Attributes of God

The Lord is in the Midst of Her

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

And I will shake all nations..and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. – Haggai 2:7

“I will shake all nations.” The apostle says that this signifies the things that can be shaken; that the things that cannot be shaken will remain, and that the desire of all nations must be put down as a thing that cannot be shaken. The Church, then, shall never be shaken, and the precious things that the Church gives to her God shall not be shaken. Time will change many things. Great princes will be considered mere beggars by-and-by in the esteem of men who know how to judge by character. Great men will shrivel into very small things-when they come to be tried, even by posterity. And the judgement-day-ah! how will that try the great ones of this earth? But the Christian Church-the very gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Time shall not be able so much as to chip one of her polished stones. Her treasures of faith, and what not, the rich things that God hath given her-these things shall never be stolen: they can never be shaken. And then the crown of all is, “I will fill this house with My glory,” saith the Lord. This is the reason, the great charm of it all. God Himself dwells, as He dwells nowhere else, in His glory…God is known in the Jerusalem below, as well as in the Jerusalem above. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved; and though the kings gather together for her destruction, yet His presence is the river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God. Yes, glorious things may well be spoken of Zion when we have such stones as precious men, such gifts as precious graces, such abiding character as God gives, and such a presence as the presence of God Himself.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3442.cfm

The Desirable Ones

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God 4 Comments

…the desire of all nations shall come… – Haggai 2:7

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious… -1 Peter 2:4

The choice men, the pick, the best of all men shall come and constitute the true temple of God. Not the kings and princes, not the great and noble after the flesh-these are but the choice of men after the manner of man’s choice; but not many great men after the flesh, not many mighty are chosen and called; but still, those whom God chooses must be the choice ones of mankind. They will not claim to be so by nature; on the contrary, they will repudiate any idea of any natural betterness in themselves. But God sees them as what they are to be, as what He intends them to be, as what He makes them to be, and in this respect they are the desire, they are the choice of all nations. To God, His people are His royal treasure, His secret jewels, the treasury of kings-they are very precious in His sight. Their very death is precious. He keeps record of their bones, and will raise their dust at the last day. If the nation did but know it, the saints in a nation are the aristocracy of that nation. Those who fear God are the very soul, and marrow, and backbone of a nation. For their sakes God has preserved many a nation. For their sakes He gives unnumbered blessings. “Ye are the salt of the earth”: the earth were putrid without them. “Ye are the light of the world”: the world would be dark without them. They are the desire, I say, though often the world treats them with contempt, and would cast them out. It has ever been thus with the blind world-to treat its best friends worst, and its worst enemies often receive the most royal entertainment. Now what a joy it is to us to think that God has been pleased to make unto Himself a people according to His own sovereign will and good pleasure, and that He has made these to be the desirable ones out of all nations-that with these choice and elect ones He will build up His Church. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3442.cfm

The True Spiritual Temple

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 2 Comments

“And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.”- Haggai 2:7

The second temple was never intended to be as magnificent as the first. The first was to be the embodiment of the full glory of the dispensation of symbols and types, and was soon to pass away. This comparative feebleness had been proved by the idolatry and apostasy of the people Israel, and when they returned to Jerusalem they were to have a structure that would be sufficient for the purposes of their worship, but they were not again to be indulged with the splendours of the former house which God had erected by the hand of Solomon…The reason seems to me to be this: in the second temple, during the time it should stand, the dispensation of Christ was softly melted into the light of spiritual truth. The outward worship was to cease there. It seems right that it should cease in a temple that had not the external glory of the first. God intended there to light up the first beams of the spiritual splendour of the second temple, namely, His true temple, the Church, and He would put a sign of decay on the outward and visible in the temple of the first. Yet He declares by His servant, Haggai, that the glory of the second temple should be greater than the first. It certainly was not so as in respect of gold, or silver, or size, or excellency of architecture; and yet it truly was so, for the glory of the presence of Christ was greater than all the glory of the old temple’s wealth; and the glory of having the gospel preached in it, the glory of having the gospel miracles wrought in its porches by the apostles and by the Master, was far greater than any hecatombs of bullocks and he-goats-the glory of being, as it were, the cradle of the Christian Church, the nest out of which should fly the messengers of peace, who, like doves, should bear the olive branch throughout the world. I take it that the decadence of the old system of symbols was a most fitting preparation for the incoming of the system of grace and truth in the person of Jesus Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3442.cfm

 

He is Altogether Lovely

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Father 9 Comments

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely.  – Song of Solomon

There is no exaggeration in the language of the spouse when she says, “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” Such as receive Jesus with their hearts will find that the most rapturous expressions that saints have ever used do not exceed, but fall infinitely short of the delight, the heavenly joys, which He brings into the soul. If one might choose a heaven upon earth, it would be to rest for ever in quiet meditation upon the beauties of His person, the perfection of His character, the power of His blood, the prevalence of His plea, the glory of His resurrection, the majesty of His Second Advent. Everything about Christ is delightful. There is not a truth He ever teaches but is fragrant with choice perfume. There is not a word He utters but smelleth of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces from which He came.

If you have not received Christ, my dear hearer, you have missed the brightest feature of divine revelation…you do not know what life is; you are dead to all its charms; you do not know what light is; you have only dwelt in the shade, or in the twilight at the best, if you have not beheld the Saviour, entertained Him, and tasted that He is gracious. You have missed the cream. You have been stopping outside in the farmyard feeding with the swine. You do not know what the fatted calf is, upon which the children feed at the Father’s table. You have been a dog, satisfied with the bones, not knowing the fatness and the marrow of true life. But the Christian, dear friends, finds Christ to be so inconceivably precious, such a fountain of delight, such a river of mercy, that when he receives Him, he receives Him joyfully, and the longer he knows Him the more joyful he is to think that He ever received him at all. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3487.cfm

He Maketh His Saved Ones Rich

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

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. – John 3:17

When He came, He came with such wondrous blessings-pardon and peace, justification and acceptance, sanctification and honour, wisdom and righteousness-all these; and now He proclaims Himself to be our protector; His paths drop fatness; He maketh rich and addeth no sorrow; such as find Him find in Him such wealth of goodness-deep, mysterious, unknown-as far exceeds all earthly pleasure, all worldly fortune. Surely on the lowest ground we might afford Him the loftiest welcome. Even churlish Laban received Eliezer with courtesy when he saw the presents he brought-the bracelets, and the earrings, and the jewels, and should not we receive Jesus when we mark those costly gifts in His hand, the purchase of His own blood, which He freely gives to those who receive Him?

And shall we not receive Him joyfully because He comes in such a blessed spirit? He upbraideth not. He was all gentleness, meekness, grace, when here below; though of divine pedigree, the Only-begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. Should we not then receive Him with sound of the trumpet, with the psalter and harp, yea, and with joy of heart unspeakable? Let me add that the better we know Him the more joyfully we should receive Him for His own sake. Oh! I could stand here and weep to think that I do not speak better of my Lord and Master. Truly I know more of His grace and goodness than I should ever be able to tell. I trust you can say the same. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3487.cfm

Jesus’ Gracious Work in the Hearts of Men

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 2 Comments

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4

Well may we receive Christ joyfully since He works such wonderful changes in us, and so beneficent. He cheers the grievous past. It was all black and threatening with the memory of our provocations. He sprinkles His blood upon it, and now it becomes bright and beaming with mementoes of the loving-kindnesses and tender mercies of the Lord. He illuminates the present. There was nought but gloom and blank despair till He shone as the light of life in our dwelling. Then life and salvation dawn upon us like the dayspring from on high. He disperses the clouds that hung over the future. The outlook was dark and threatening till Jesus came, bright and glorious, and discovered a hereafter. Beyond the black river of death we now discern the gleaming of the spirit-land, and the place of meeting where we shall see His face. Thus, when Jesus comes into the heart, the three realms of the past, the present, and the future, all glow with light. When the sun rises, the hills, and valleys, and rivers, above and beneath, are all sown with orient pearl.

Right joyfully do we receive Christ because He comes into our hearts with such gracious offices. He came as a priest to put away sin; who could but be glad? He came as a king; who would not receive such a monarch with sound of trumpets and flaunting of banners? He came to us as a shepherd; shall not the flock of His pasture be glad of the sight of Him? He came as a dear and tender friend; does not His sweet sympathy excite any joy? Think, too, of the yet more endearing relationship in which He came. He came as a husband, and our souls are married unto Him. Blessed bridegroom! Thou adorable Saviour! Thou hast engrossed our heart and won our love. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3487.cfm

Let Me to Thy Bosom Fly

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life 1 Comment

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house… – Luke 19:9

Why do some men receive Him joyfully? The answer simply is because grace has made them to differ. Grace has subdued their stubborn will, illuminated their darkened understanding, changed their depraved affections, and made their whole mind to judge of things after a different fashion. Do not suppose that we who have received Christ were naturally any better disposed to Him than others. Oh! no. If, when the seed was sown, we were like the honest and good ground in which it took root, there had been a previous tillage upon our hearts to make them ready, we should not have been found willing had it not been the day of God’s power.

We make Christ our last resource. We try everything else; grand resolutions to do good works, or to attend gorgeous ceremonies, trivial formalities, or paltry superstitions; anything, the silliest conceit or the emptiest quackery. We go the round of folly before we discover the path of wisdom. At length I must go to Christ, or else woe is unto me if I win Him not. Helpless and hopeless, in sheer distress we cry out, “Give me Christ, or else I die.” Henceforth He is not merely our choice, but a positive necessity to us to have Him as our hourly, daily, and eternal portion. Oh! the strait unto which I was brought when I received Christ. It was Christ or death; salvation by Christ, or damnation without Him. I received Him because I could not help it. I had no alternative. How many of you are in the like dilemma? How many of you will fly to Him in similar destitution? Driven before the tempest, catching a glimpse of the lighthouse, you cry out:

“Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3487.cfm