Unbelievers Hate God

November 22, 2025November 15, 2025Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand…. he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. – John 3:35,36

Suppose a man has injured another, grossly insulted him, and that repeatedly, and yet the injured person, finding the man at last brought into a wretched and miserable state, goes to him and simply out of kindness to him, says, “I freely forgive you all the wrong you ever did me, and I am ready to relieve your poverty and to succor you in your distress.” Suppose the other replies, “No, I would sooner rot than take anything from you.” Would not you have in such a resolve a clear proof of the intense enmity that existed in his heart?

The unbeliever touches God in a very tender place by his unbelief. No doubt it was to the great Maker a joyous thing to fashion this world, but there are no expressions of joy concerning it at all equal to the joy of God in the matter of human redemption. We would be guarded when we speak of Him, but as far as we can tell, the gift of His dear Son to men, and the whole scheme of redemption, is the master work even of God Himself. He is infinite in power, and wisdom, and love.

And so, when a man says, and every one of you unbelievers practically say so, “I would sooner lie forever in hell than honor Christ by trusting Him,” this is a very plain proof of your hatred of God and His Christ. Unbelievers hate God. Let me ask, for what do you hate Him? He keeps the breath within your nostrils. He it is that gives you food and clothing and sends fruitful seasons. For which of these good things do you hate Him? You hate Him because He is good. Ah, then, it must be because you yourself are evil, and your heart very far removed from righteousness. May God grant that this great and crying sin may be clearly set before your eyes by the light of the Eternal Spirit, and may you repent of it, and turn from your unbelief and live this very day. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm

Will You Receive God’s Mercy or His Condemnation?

November 21, 2025November 15, 2025Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

And when He comes, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on Me… – John 16:8,9

He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – John 3:18

The all-seeing One, when He beholds men spurning the supreme gift of His love, cannot but regard such rejection as the worst proof of the hatred of their hearts against Himself. When the Holy Spirit comes to convince men of sin, the special sin which He brings to light is thus described, “Of sin, because they believed not on Me.” Not because the heathen were licentious in their habits, barbarians in their wars, and the bloodthirsty in their spirit. No, “Of sin, because they believe not on Me.”

Condemnation has come upon men, but what is the condemnation? “That light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Remember, also, that expressive text, “He that believes not is condemned already.” And what is he condemned for? “Because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”

Let me remark, further, that in the rejection of divine mercy as presented in Christ, the unbeliever has displayed intense venom against God, for observe how it is. He must either receive the mercy of God in Christ, or he must be condemned—there is no other alternative. He must trust Christ whom God has set forth to be the propitiation for sin, or else he must be driven from the presence of God into eternal punishment. The unbeliever in effect says, “I had sooner be damned than accept God’s mercy in Christ.” Can we conceive a grosser insult to the infinite compassion of the great Father? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm

Rejection of this Gift is No Small Sin

November 20, 2025November 15, 2025Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

…he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. – John 3:36

What is this peculiar sin which entails the wrath of God upon these people? It is that they have not believed the Son of God. What does that amount to? It amounts to this, first of all, that they refuse to accept the mercy of God. God made a law, and His creatures were bound to respect and obey it. We rejected it and turned aside from it. It was a great display of the heart’s hatred, but it was not in some respects so thoroughly and intensely wicked a manifestation of enmity to God as when we reject the Gospel of grace.

God has now presented not the law, but the Gospel to us. He has said, “My creatures, you have broken My law, you have acted very vilely towards Me. I must punish your sin, else I were not God, and I cannot lay aside My justice, but I have devised a way by which, without any injury to any of My attributes, I can have mercy upon you. I am ready to forgive the past, and to restore you to more than your lost position, so that you shall be My sons and My daughters. My only command to you is, believe in My Son. If this command be obeyed, all the blessings of My new covenant shall be yours. Trust Him and follow Him, for behold, I give Him as leader and commander to the people. Accept Him as making atonement by His substitution and obey Him.”

Now, to reject the law of God shows an evil heart of unbelief, but who shall say what a depth of rebellion must dwell in that heart which refuses not only the yoke of God, but even the gift of God? The provision of a Savior for lost men is the free gift of God, by it all our wants are supplied, all our evils are removed, peace on earth is secured to us, and glory forever with God—the rejection of this gift cannot be a small sin.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm

The One Thing Needful

November 19, 2025November 15, 2025Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

…he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. – John 3:36

It must be admitted that not a few of these (unbelieving) persons are blameless as to their morals. You could not, with close observation, find either dishonesty, falsehood, uncleanness, or malice in their outward life. They are not only free from these blots, but they manifest positive excellences. Much of their character is commendable. They frequently are courteous and compassionate, generous and gentle-minded. Often times they are so amiable and admirable, that while looking upon them, we understand how our Lord, in a similar case, loved the young man who asked, “What lack I yet?” The one thing needful they are destitute of is they have not believed in Christ Jesus, and loath as the Savior was to see them perish, yet it cannot be helped, one doom is common to all who believe not. They shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on them. “God is angry with the wicked every day.”

In many cases these persons are, in addition to their morality, religious persons after a fashion. They would not absent themselves from the usual service of the place of worship. They are most careful to respect the Sabbath, they venerate the Book of God, they use a form of prayer, they join in the songs of the Sanctuary, they sit as God’s people sit and stand as God’s people stand. But alas, there is a worm in the center of that fair fruit, they have missed the one essential thing, which, being omitted, brings certain ruin. They have not believed on the Son of God. Ah, how far a man may go, and yet, for lack of this one thing, the wrath of God may still abide upon him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm

Who is the Unhappy Man?

November 18, 2025November 15, 2025Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

…he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. – John 3:36

Who is the unhappy man spoken of here? Is he a person to be met with only once in a century? Must we search the crowds through and through to find an individual in this miserable plight? Ah! no, the persons who are here spoken of are common. They abound even in our holy assemblies. They are to be met with by thousands in our streets. Alas, alas! they form the vast majority of the world’s population. Jesus Christ, out of infinite mercy, has come into the world, has taken upon Himself our nature, and in that nature has suffered the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. By reason of His sufferings, the Gospel message is now proclaimed to all men, and they are honestly assured that, “Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus has come unto His own, and His own have not received Him, the Jewish race remains unbelieving. While the Gentiles, to whom He was to be a light, prefer to sit in darkness and reject His brightness. The persons here spoken of are those who believe not the Son of God. They hear the Gospel but refuse obedience to its command. Let it not be imagined that these individuals are necessarily avowed skeptics, for many of them believe much of the revealed truth. They believe the Bible to be the Word of God. They believe there is a God. They believe that Jesus Christ is come into the world as a Savior. They believe the doctrine of election, but they have not the faith of God’s elect. They swear by final perseverance but persevere in unbelief. They believe most of the doctrines which cluster around the cross. They accept in creed the truths that are assuredly believed among us, but they have not received that faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. At any rate, they have not received it personally and practically for their souls’ salvation. Alas! they may do this, but yet the wrath of God abides on them, if they believe not the Son of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm

The Discriminator John the Baptist

November 17, 2025November 15, 2025Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 2 Comments

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. – John 3:36.

John the Baptist was evidently a preacher who knew how to discriminate—a point in which so many fail—he separated between the precious and the vile, and therefore he was as God’s mouth to the people. He does not address them as all lost nor as all saved, but he shows the two classes. He keeps up the line of demarcation between him that fears God and him that fears Him not. We have not many sermons by that mighty preacher, but we have just sufficient to prove that he knew how to lay the axe at the root of the tree by preaching the law of God most unflinchingly; and also that he knew how to declare the gospel, for no one could have uttered sentences which more clearly contain the way of salvation than those in the text before us.

He plainly declares the privileges of the believer, he says he has even now eternal life, and with equal decision he testifies to the sad state of the unbeliever, “He shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John the Baptist might usefully instruct many professedly Christian preachers. Although he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, and ought, therefore, more clearly to bear witness to the truth, yet there are many who muddle the Gospel, who teach philosophy, who preach a mingle-mangle, which is neither law nor Gospel, and these might well go to the school of this rough preacher of the wilderness, and learn from him how to cry, “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm