Attributes of God

What is Loveliness?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

He is altogether lovely. – Songs 5:16

What, I pray you, what is loveliness? To discern it is one thing, but it is quite another thing to describe it…How can I-enamoured, entranced, enraptured as I am with Him whom my soul loveth-how can I speak of Him? He is altogether lovely? Where shall I find words, terms, expressions that shall fitly set Him forth? Unless the Eternal Spirit shall upraise me out of myself I must for ever be incapable of setting forth the Well-beloved… I suppose that, by-and-by, when our Lord had entered upon His active life, and encountered its struggles, His youthful beauty was marred with lines of sadness and sorrow. Still His courage so overshadowed His cares, the mercy He showed so surpassed the misery He shared, and the grace He dispensed so exceeded the griefs that He carried, that a halo of real glory must ever have shone around His brow. His countenance must still have been lovely even when surrounded with the clouds of care and grief. How can we describe even the marred visage? It is a great mystery, but a sure fact, that in our Lord’s marred countenance His beauty is best seen. Anguish gave Him a loveliness which else He had not reached. His passion put the finishing touch upon His unrivalled loveliness.

Brethren, I am not about to speak of Christ’s loveliness after the flesh, for now after the flesh know we Him no more. It is His moral and spiritual beauty, of which the spouse in the song most sweetly says, “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” The loveliness which the eye dotes on is mere varnish when compared with that which dwells in virtue and holiness; the worm will devour the loveliness of skin and flesh, but a lovely character will endure for ever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

His All-Conquering Loveliness

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

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. – Songs 5:16

“He is altogether lovely.” Not only is His teaching attractive, His doctrine persuasive, His life irreproachable, His character enchanting, and His work a self-denying labour for the common good of all His people, but He Himself is altogether lovely. I suppose at first we shall always begin to love Him because He first loved us, and even to the last His love to us will always be the strongest motive of our affection towards Him; still there ought to be added to this another reason less connected with ourselves, and more entirely arising out of His own superlative excellence; we ought to love Him because He is lovely and deserves to be loved. The time should come, and with some of us it has come, when we can heartily say “we love Him because we cannot help it, for His all-conquering loveliness has quite ravished our hearts.” Surely it is but an unripe fruit to love Him merely for the benefits which we have received at His hand. It is a fruit of grace, but it is not of the ripest flavour; at least, there are other fruits, both new and old, which we have laid up for Thee, O our Beloved, and some of them have a daintier taste. There is a sweet and mellow fruit which can only be brought forth by the summer sun of fellowship-love because of the Redeemer’s intrinsic goodness and personal sweetness. Oh that we might love our Lord for His own sake, love Him because He is so supremely beautiful that a glimpse of Him has won our hearts, and made Him dearer to our eyes than light. Oh that all true and faithful disciples of our beloved Lord would press forward towards that state of affection, and never rest till they reach it! If any of you have not reached it, you need not therefore doubt your own safety, for whatever the reason why you love Jesus, if you love Him at all, it is a sure pledge and token that He loves you, and that you are saved in Him with an everlasting salvation. Still covet earnestly the best gifts, and rise to the highest degree of devotion,. Love as the purest of the saints have loved; love as John the apostle loved, for still your Lord exceeds all the loving homage you can pay to Him. Love His person, love Himself; for He is better than all that He has done or given; and as from Himself all blessings flow, so back to Himself should all love return. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

Our Business is to Live for God

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

And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. – Matthew 10:22

To bring souls to Christ is my main endeavour, but it is not the ultimate proof of my ministry. My business is to live for God, to lay aside self, and give myself up wholly to Him, and if I do that I shall be accepted whatever else may happen. I wish we had the spirit of that brave old man who was condemned to the stake. They were going to burn him. He knew that the sentence was to be carried out the next morning, but with a soul full of courage, and with a merry heart, he sat the last thing at night talking with his friends-faggots and fire to face in the morning, recollect-and he said to one of them, “I am an old tree in my Master’s orchard. When I was young I bore a little fruit by His grace. It was unripe and sour, but He bore with it: and I have grown mellow in my older days and brought forth some fruit for Him by His grace. Now the tree has grown so old that my Master is going to cut it down and burn the old log. Well, it will warm the hearts of some of His family while I am burning”; and he even smiled for joy to think that he might be put to so good a purpose. I want you to have that spirit, and to say, “I will live for Christ while I am young: I will die for Him, and warm the hearts of my brethren…Oh, go to the Master’s cross to learn the way to live and die! See how He spent Himself for you, and then sally forth and spend yourselves for Him. “Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall ye be glorious in the sight of the Lord.” Though you may think that you do not succeed, your whole-hearted consecration shall be your honour in the day of the Lord. By your hallowed life, and your humble service, you shall bring glory to His name. O Lord, set us in our charges, and encourage us in the service of Thy house! “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; establish Thou the work of our hands: yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.” May the blessing of our covenant God rest upon you, my brethren, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1513.cfm

The Divine Economy

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. – John 4:37

If you really do serve the Lord thoroughly and heartily, He will accept you and acknowledge your service, even though no good should come of it. It is your business to cast the bread on the waters: if you do not find it after many days, that is not your business. It is your business to scatter the seed; but no farmer says to his servant, “John, you have not served me well, for there is no harvest.” The man would say, “Could I make a harvest, sir? I have ploughed, and I have sowed. What more could I do”? Even so our good Lord is not austere, nor does He demand of us more than we can do. If you have ploughed and if you have sowed, although there should be no harvest, you are clear and accepted. Did it never strike you that you may be now employed in breaking up ground and preparing the soil from which other labourers who come after you will reap very plentifully. Perhaps your Master knows what a capital ploughman you are. He has a large farm, and he never means to let you become a reaper because you do the ploughing so well. Your Master does not intend you to take part in the harvest because you are such a good hand at sowing; and as He has crops that need sowing all the year round He keeps you at that work. He knows you better than you know yourself. Perchance if He were once to let you get on the top of a loaded wagon of your own sheaves, you would turn dizzy and make a fall of it; so He says, “You keep to your ploughing and your sowing, and somebody else shall do the reaping.” Peradventure when your course is run you will see from heaven, where it will be safe for you to see it, that you did not labour in vain nor spend your strength for nought. “One soweth and another reapeth.” This is the divine economy. I think that every man that loves his Master will say, “So long as there does but come a harvest, I will not stipulate about who reaps it. Give me faith enough to be assured that the reaping will come, and I will be content.”

Though Christ cometh quickly He may not come for another ten thousand years, but in any case idolatry must die, and truth must reign. The accumulated prayers and energies of ages shall do the deed, and God shall be glorified. Only let us persevere in holy effort, and the end is sure. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1513.cfm

Do Not Be So Faint-hearted as to Give Up

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life 3 Comments

Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any fish?” They answered Him, “No.” – John 21:5

Are there any of you who fear that you have toiled in vain and spent your strength for nought? I would entreat you, dear friends, not to be satisfied with casting in the seed unless you reap some good results; yet do not be so faint-hearted as to give up because of a little disappointment. Though you cannot be satisfied without fruit, yet do not cease to sow because one season proves a failure. I would not have our friends the farmers abandon agriculture because this year they have a bad crop: if they were to measure their future prospects by the present failure, it would be a great pity. If you have preached or taught, or done work for Christ with little success until now, do not infer that you will always be unsuccessful. Regret the lack of prosperity but do not relinquish the labour of seeking it. You may reasonably be sorrowful, but you have no right to despair. Non-success is a trial of faith which has been endured by many a trusty servant who has been triumphant in the issue. Did not the disciples toil all night, and catch nothing?…Did not our Lord say that some seed would fall on stony ground, and some among the thorns, and that from these there would be no harvest? What good did Jeremiah do? I have no doubt he laboured, and God blessed him, but the result of his preaching was that he said, “The bellows are burned in the fire.” He had blown up the fire till he had burnt the bellows, but no man’s heart was melted. “Woe is me”! said he. “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears”! I do not know what was the result of Noah’s ministry, but I do know that he was a preacher of righteousness for a hundred and twenty years, and yet he never brought a soul into the ark except his own family. Poor preaching we may count it judging by the influence it exerted: and yet we know that it was grand preaching, such as God commended. Do not, then, grudge the time, or the strength, you lay out in the service of our great Lord because you do not see your efforts thrive, for better men than you have wept over failure. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1513.cfm

Leave Your Honour with Your God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle… And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. – 1 Samuel 17:28,49

Look at David. His brother asked why he had left the charge of the sheep to come down to the battle, suspecting that the pride of his heart had brought him among the soldiers and the standards. Yet nobody could bring back Goliath’s head but that young David. Take a lesson from the ruddy hero; take no notice of what your brethren say about you. Go and bring back the giant’s head. A good adventure is the best answer to evil accusations. If you are serving the Master let their scandal stir you up to more self-consecration. If they cry out against you as too forward, serve the Lord with more vigour, and you will antidote the venom of their tongues. Did you enter into Christ’s work in order to be honoured among men? Then retire from it, for you came with a bad motive. But if you enlisted purely to bring honour to Him, and to win His smile, what more do you want? What more do you want? Be not therefore disheartened because you are not applauded. Be certain of this, that to be kept in the rear rank is often necessary to future eminence. If you take a man and put him in front, and pat him on the back and say, “What a great man he is”! he will make a false step before long, and there will be an end of your hero; but when a man is brought forward by God, he is often one whom everybody criticizes, finds fault with, and declaims as an impostor, but the banter he is exposed to serves as ballast for his mind. When he comes off with success he will not be spoiled with conceit, for the grace of God will make him bow with gratitude. The sword that is meant for a princely hand, to split through skull and backbone in the day of battle, must be annealed in the furnace again and again; it cannot be fit for such desperate work until it has passed through the fire full many a time. Do not ask to be appreciated. Never be so mean as that. Appreciate yourself in the serenity of conscience, and leave your honour with your God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1513.cfm

Diamond Must Cut Diamond

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

It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. – Matthew 10: 25,26

I have known the day when perplexities pleased me, dilemmas afforded me delight, and instead of declining a difficult task I rather like it. Even now I enjoy puzzling over a problem, and attempting what others decline. Nothing good in this world can be effected without difficulty. The biggest diamonds lie under heavy stones which sluggards cannot turn over. That which is easy to do is hardly worth doing. In the face of difficulty the man of ardent, persevering spirit braces up his nerves, sharpens his wits, and brings all his powers into play to achieve an object that will reward his efforts. Have you great difficulties dear friend? You are not the first worker for God who has had difficulties to encounter…Any good thing, I say, especially any good thing done for God, must be surrounded with difficulties, and resisted by adversaries. Look at Nehemiah, and Ezra, and Zerubbabel, and those that built Jerusalem, the second time. These good men wrought zealously, but Sanballat and Tobiah were jeering and jesting, and trying to throw down the wall. If you build a city without difficulty, it is not Jerusalem. Be sure of that. As soon as ever you begin working for God you will find a great power working against you. If you encounter opposition, take it as a good sign…When you, my dear brother, meet with opposition, encounter it with prayer. Exercise more faith. Antagonists ought never to hinder your going forward in the cause of Christ. Diamond must cut diamond. There is nothing so hard in this world but you can cut it with something harder. If you ask God to steel your soul up to the conquering point, and to make your resolution like an adamant stone, you can cut your way through an alp of diamond in the service of your Lord and Master.

Let me inspirit you in the face of assailants. The forces ranged against you might be stumbling-blocks to fools, but they shall only prove a stimulus to men. One day your honour shall be the greater and your reward shall be the higher because of these adverse elements. Therefore, be brave and fear not, but advance in the strength of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1513.cfm