Attributes of God

He Speaks It and He Does It

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, Sovereignty of God 2 Comments

God hath spoken in His holiness… – Psalm 108:7

Why is it that you are able to confide in God’s Word? Surely, it is because you know that, for God to speak, is for Him to do as He hath said. By His Word, He made the heavens and the earth; and it is by His Word that the heavens and the earth continue as they are to this day…Very often, man talks about something that he says he will do, but when he has talked about it, there is an end of the matter so far as he is concerned. Man hath spoken; oh, yes! but you can never be sure that with the talking tongue will go the working hand. He who is quick to promise is not always so prompt to perform. We have many proverbs which remind us that men set light by one another’s promises, and well they may; but we must never set light by the promises of God. “He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” So, beloved brother, if there is a promise of God to help you in a time of trouble, or to preserve you in the hour of temptation, or to deliver you out of trial, or to give you grace according to your day, that promise is as good as if it had been already performed, since God’s Word shall certainly be followed by the fulfillment of it in due season. I beseech you, then, as you read the promise, to say to yourself, “It is done as God hath said.” If any man of means, with whom you do business, gives you his cheque for the amount he owes you, do you not say that he has paid you? Yet he has not handed to you even a penny in cash; no notes or gold and silver coins have passed between you; but you rightly say that he has paid you because his signature on the cheque is as good as money; and is not God’s Word as good as man’s? Ay, that it is, and far better! Then, so regard it; oh, for faith to do so at this very moment! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

This is Our Joy, that God Hath Spoken

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

God hath spoken in His holiness… – Psalm 108:7

“God hath spoken in His holiness;” and we ought to be thankful that we have not to serve a God who is dumb. He spake in the garden of Eden when our first parents sinned against Him. To the serpent He said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” It was a message of hope to the world when God spake that great promise concerning His Son. Since then, “at sundry times and in divers manners,” God hath spoken unto men by His servants, and “by His Son,” of which we have the record in this blessed Book; and, since it is a message of mercy and love to us, we ought at once to rejoice that “God hath spoken.” Sinner, you are pleading with God for mercy; and He might well refuse to answer you even a word; but “God hath spoken” already, and the answer to your petition is already recorded in His Word. If, when Adam sinned, He had turned away from our rebellious race, and said, “Henceforward, I will hold no communication with you until that day when, with fire and sword, I punish you for your many transgressions;” we should have had no cause for complaining against Him; certainly, we could not have impeached His justice, or found fault with His severity. But “God hath spoken;” He hath broken the silence which would have been death to us; and, blessed be His name, He hath divinely spoken to us by Him who is THE WORD OF GOD -by God’s great logos -the only voice by which He could fully speak out His whole soul so that men might be able to comprehend Him; and it is upon what God hath spoken unto us, by His Son, that we have to place our faith; so that, had He not spoken, we should not have had any foundation for our faith; but this is our joy, that “God hath spoken.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

Prayers Already Answered

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Father 1 Comment

…save with Thy right hand and answer me. – Psalm 108:6

There is an old promise, concerning God’s people, which says, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” This text is one of the instances in which the Lord has dealt with His saints upon the lines of that promise. David prays, “Save with Thy right hand, and answer me;” and while he is waiting for God to answer him, he remembers that God has already spoken. In effect, he says to himself, “I am waiting for an answer, but God has given it to me.” Very often, the response to a believer’s petition has been practically received before he presents his request, and he only needs that God should open his eyes for him to see that, before he called, God had answered his supplication. Indeed, brethren and sisters in Christ, in one sense, all your prayers, that is, your prayers that ought to be answered, are already answered; for, whatsoever there may be that you may rightly ask of God, you really have it, since, in giving us Christ, He has already given us all things. An important part of the duty of faith is to believe that you have what you ask in prayer, and then you shall have it. This is blessed philosophy; may we all learn it! Oftentimes, when we are crying to God, and waiting for an answer to our petition, if we did but look around us, and if we had more acute powers of observation-if our spiritual faculties were keener and quicker, we should perceive that we already have the very thing for which we are asking. Some of you have, perhaps, been saying, “Oh, that we were indeed the Lord’s people, who have their prayers answered even before they offer them!” Well, then, turn to the Book, and you will find that the Lord has there told you that you are His if, indeed, you are believing in His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God has given you, by that most sure word of testimony, the clearest possible evidence of your personal interest in Christ already. If you are asking for some further kind assuring word, to soothe your fears to rest, turn to the Bible, for there is in it the very word you need. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

Gladly Yoked with Christ

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

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. – Matthew 11:29, 30

I do not know whether I am right, but it struck me, when considering this text from various points, that probably our Saviour meant to convey an idea of deeper fellowship than we have yet considered. Did not He mean this- that He carried a yoke on His shoulder, which He calls, “My yoke?” When bullocks are yoked, there are generally two. I have watched them in Northern Italy, and noticed that when two are yoked together, and they are perfectly agreed, the yoke is always easy to both of them. If one were determined to lie down and the other to stand up, the yoke would be very uncomfortable; but when they are both of one mind you will see them look at each other with those large, lustrous, brown eyes of theirs so lovingly, and with a look they read each other’s minds, so that when one wants to lie down, down they go, or when one wishes to go forward, forward they both go, keeping step. In this way the yoke is easy. Now I think the Saviour says to us, “I am bearing one end of the yoke on My shoulder; come, My disciple, place your neck under the other side of it, and then learn of Me. Keep step with Me, be as I am, do as I do. I am meek and lowly in heart; your heart must be like Mine, and then we will work together in blessed fellowship, and you will find that working with Me is a happy thing; for My yoke is easy to Me and will be to you. Come, then, true yoke-fellow, come and be yoked with Me, take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.” If that be the meaning of the text, and perhaps it is, it invites us to a fellowship most near and honorable. If it be not the meaning of the text, it is at any rate a position to be sought after, to be laborers together with Christ, bearing the same yoke. Such be our lot. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0969.cfm

Immovable Rest

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

…and ye shall find rest unto your souls. – Matthew 11:29

My dear brethren, if you find rest to your souls you will not be moved by the judgment of men. The children in the market-place were the type of our Lord’s generation, who railed both at John the Baptist and at our Lord. The generation which now is follows the same course, men are sure to cavil at our service. Never mind; take Christ’s yoke on you, live to serve Him; take Christ’s burden, make it a point to bear all things for His sake, and you will not be affected either by praise or censure, for you will find rest to your souls in surrendering yourself to the Father’s will. If you learn of Jesus you will have rest from the fear of men.

Next you will be delivered from fretfulness at want of success. “Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not.” He had wrought His mighty works, and preached the gospel, and they did not repent. Was Jesus discouraged? Was He, as we sometimes are, ready to quit the work? No; His heart rested even then. If we come to Jesus, and take His yoke and burden, we too shall find rest, though Israel be not gathered.

Learning of Jesus we too shall rest in reference to divine decrees; we shall rejoice in whatever the Lord determines; predestination will not cast a gloom over us, but we shall thank God for all He ordains. What a blessed rest! As we open it up, does not its compass and depth surprise you? How sweet to lie passive in His hands, reconciled to every mystery, content with every dispensation, honored by every service satisfied in God! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0969.cfm

Learn of Jesus

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

…and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart… – Matthew 11:29

Now, in order to learn of Christ it is implied that we lay aside all prejudices of the past. These things much prevent our finding peace. Have you any preconceived notions of what religion should be? Have you fashioned on your own anvil ideas of what the doctrines of the gospel ought to be? Throw them all away; learn of Jesus and unlearn your own thoughts. Then, when you are willing to learn, please to note what is to be learned. In order to get perfect rest of mind you have to learn of Jesus not only the doctrines which He teaches, but a great deal more than that. To go to school to be orthodox is a good enough thing, but the orthodoxy which brings rest is an orthodoxy of the spirit…To catch the spirit of Jesus is the road to rest. To believe what He teaches me is something, to acknowledge Him as my religious leader and as my Lord is much, but to strive to be conformed to His character, not merely in its external developments but in its interior spirit, this is the grammar of rest. Learn to be like the meek and lowly-hearted One, and ye shall find rest. Take the word “meek” first. I think that refers to the yoke-bearing, the active labor. If I actively labor for Christ I can only find rest in the labor by possessing the meek spirit of my Lord; for if I go forth to labor for Christ without a meek spirit, I shall very soon find that there is no rest in it, for the yoke will gall my shoulder…Then, as to the passive part of our rest-lesson, note the text, “I am lowly in heart.” We shall all have to bear something for the truth’s sake so long as we are here. The reproach is a part of the gospel. The rod is a blessing of the covenant. The lowly heart finds the burden very light because it acquiesces in the divine will. The lowly heart says, “Not my will but Thine be done; let God be glorified in me, it shall be all I ask. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0969.cfm

Take His Yoke

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 1 Comment

Take My yoke upon you…For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. – Matthew 11:29, 30

He who is a Christian will not find rest in being idle. There is no unrest greater than that of the sluggard. If you would rest take Christ’s yoke, be actively engaged in His service. As the bullock has the yoke put upon its neck and then begins to draw, so have the yoke of Christ put on your neck and commence to obey Him. The rest of heaven is not the rest of sleep; they serve Him day and night in His temple. They are always resting, and yet, in another sense, they rest not day nor night. Holy activity in heaven is perfect rest. True rest to the mind of the child of God is rest on the wing, rest in motion, rest in service, not rest with the yoke off, but with the yoke on. We are to enter upon this service voluntarily; we are to take His yoke upon us voluntarily. You observe, it does not say, “Bear My yoke when it is laid upon you but take it.” Do not need to be told by the minister, “My dear brother, such-and-such a work you are bound to do,” but take up the yoke of your own accord. Do not merely submit to be the Lord’s servant but seek His service. Ask, “What can I do?” Be desirous to do it voluntarily, cheerfully, do all that lieth in you for the extension of His kingdom who has given you rest, and you shall find that the rest of your soul shall lie in your doing all you can for Jesus.

Now the burden of Christ is His cross, which every Christian must take up. Expect to be reproached, expect to meet with some degree of the scandal of the cross, for the offence of it never ceases. Persecution and reproach are a blessed burden; when your soul loves Jesus it is a light thing to suffer for Him, and therefore never, by any cowardly retirement or refusal to profess your faith, evade your share of this honorable load. Woe unto those who say, “I will never be a martyr.” No rest is sweeter than the martyr’s rest. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0969.cfm