Attributes of God

Be Like Christ At All Times

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

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. -Galatians 2:20

(T)here is an idea in the world that persons ought to be very religious on a Sunday, but it does not matter what they are on a Monday. How many pious preachers are there on a Sabbath-day, who are very impious preachers during the rest of the week! How many are there who come up to the house of God with a solemn countenance, who join the song and profess to pray, yet have neither part nor lot in the matter, but are “in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity!”…When should a Christian, then, be like Jesus Christ? Is there a time when he may strip off his regimentals-when the warrior may unbuckle his armor, and become like other men? Oh! no; at all times and in every place let the Christian be what he professes to be. …Aye, we all need the consolations of God at last; but how can we expect to enjoy them unless we obey the precepts of religion during life? My brethren, let me say, be ye like Christ at all times. Imitate Him in public. Most of us live in some sort of publicity; many of us are called to work before our fellow-men every day. We are watched; our words are caught; our lives are examined-taken to pieces. The eagle-eyed, argus-eyed world observes everything we do, and sharp critics are upon us. Let us live the life of Christ in public. Let us take care that we exhibit our Master, and not ourselves-so that we can say, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.” Take heed that you carry this into the church too, you who are church-members. Be like Christ in the church. How many there are of you like Diotrephes, seeking pre-eminence? How many are trying to have some dignity and power over their fellow Christians, instead of remembering that it is the fundamental rule of all our churches, that there all men are equal-alike brethren, alike to be received as such. Carry out the spirit of Christ, then, in your churches, wherever ye are; let your fellow members say of you, “He has been with Jesus.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Be Like Christ in His Humility

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

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering… -Colossians 3:12

If thou art a Christian, I bid thee look at thy Master, talking to the children, bending from the majesty of His divinity to speak to mankind on earth, tabernacling with the peasants of Galilee, and then-aye, depth of condescension unparalleled-washing His disciples’ feet, and wiping them with the towel after supper. This is your Master, whom ye profess to worship; this is your Lord, whom ye adore. And ye, some of you who count yourselves Christians, cannot speak to a person who is not dressed in the same kind of clothing as yourselves, who have not exactly as much money per year as you have. In England, it is true that a sovereign will not speak to a shilling, and a shilling will not notice a sixpence, and a sixpence will sneer at a penny. But it should not be so with Christians. We ought to forget caste, degree, and rank, when we come into Christ’s church. Recollect, Christian, who your Master was-a man of the poor. He lived with them; He ate with them. And will ye walk with lofty heads and stiff necks, looking with insufferable contempt upon your meaner fellow-worms? What are ye? The meanest of all, because your trickeries and adornments make you proud. Pitiful, despicable souls ye are! How small ye look in God’s sight! Christ was humble; He stooped to do anything which might serve others. He had no pride; He was an humble man, a friend of publicans and sinners, living and walking with them. So, Christian, be thou like thy Master-one who can stoop; yea, be thou one who thinks it no stooping, but rather esteems others better than himself, counts it his honor to sit with the poorest of Christ’s people, and says, “If my name may be but written in the obscurest part of the book of life, it is enough for me, so unworthy am I of His notice!” Be like Christ in His humility.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Be Kind to All

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

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. -Luke 6:35

(E)ach in your proper sphere, speak kind words, do kind actions; live out Christ again in the kindness of your life. If there is one virtue which most commends Christians, it is that of kindness; it is to love the people of God, to love the church, to love the world, to love all. But how many have we in our churches of Crab-tree Christians, who have mixed such a vast amount of vinegar, and such a tremendous quantity of gall in their constitutions, that they can scarcely speak one good word to you: they imagine it impossible to defend religion except by passionate ebullitions; they cannot speak for their dishonored Master without being angry with their opponent; and if anything is awry, whether it be in the house, the church, or anywhere else, they conceive it to be their duty to set their faces like flint, and to defy everybody. They are like isolated icebergs, no one cares to go near them. They float about on the sea of forgetfulness, until at last they are melted and gone; and though good souls, we shall be happy enough to meet them in heaven, we are precious glad to get rid of them from the earth. They were always so unamiable in disposition, that we would rather live an eternity with them in heaven than five minutes on earth. Be ye not thus, my brethren. Imitate Christ in you…speak kindly, act kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you, “He has been with Jesus.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

With Courage Have Love

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

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. -1 John 4:17

There have been some who have been noble men, but have carried their courage to excess; they have thus been caricatures of Christ, and not portraits of Him. We must amalgamate with our boldness the loveliness of Jesus’ disposition. Let courage be the brass, let love be the gold. Let us mix the two together; so shall we produce a rich Corinthian metal, fit to be manufactured into the beautiful gate of the temple. Let your love and courage be mingled together. The man who is bold may indeed accomplish wonders. John Knox did much, but he might perhaps have done more if he had had a little love. Luther was a conqueror still, we who look upon him at a distance, think that if he had sometimes mixed a little mildness with it-if, while he had the fortitier in re, he had been also suaviter in modo, and spoken somewhat more gently, he might have done even more good than he did. So brethren, while we too are bold, let us ever imitate the loving Jesus. The child comes to Him; He takes it on His knee, saying, “Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not.” A widow has just lost her only son; He weeps at the bier, and with a word, restores life to the dead man. He sees a paralytic, a leper, or a man long confined to his bed; He speaks, they rise, and are healed. He lived for others, not for Himself. His constant labors were without any motive, except the good of those who lived in the world. And to crown all, ye know the mighty sacrifice He made, when He condescended to lay down His life for man-when on the tree, quivering with agony, and hanging in the utmost extremity of suffering, He submitted to die for our sakes, that we might be saved. Behold in Christ love consolidated! He was one mighty pillar of benevolence. As God is love, so Christ is love. Oh, ye Christians, be ye loving also.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Be Noted for Your Boldness

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer 4 Comments

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word. -Acts 4:29

Jesus Christ and His disciples were noted for their courage…Jesus Christ never fawned upon the rich; He stooped not to the great and noble; He stood erect, a man before men-the prophet of the people; speaking out boldly and freely what He thought…. faithfully He proclaimed what He knew to be the truth of God…If He saw a Scribe or a Pharisee in the congregation, He did not keep back part of the price, but pointing His finger, He said, “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites;” and when a lawyer came, saying, “Master, in speaking thus, thou condemnest us also;” He turned round and said “Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye bind heavy burdens upon men, while ye yourselves will not touch them with so much as one of your fingers.” He dealt out honest truth; He never knew the fear of man; He trembled at none; He stood out as God’s chosen, whom He had anointed above His fellows, careless of man’s esteem.

My friends, be like Christ in this. Have none of the time-serving religion of the present day, which is merely exhibited in evangelical drawing-rooms,-a religion which only flourishes in a hot-bed atmosphere, a religion which is only to be perceived in good company. No; if ye are the servants of God, be like Jesus Christ, bold for your Master; never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you; take care you never disgrace that. Your love to Christ will never dishonor you; it may bring some temporary slight from your friends, or slanders from your enemies; but live on, and you shall live down their calumnies; live on, and ye shall stand amongst the glorified, honored even by those who hissed at you, when He shall come to be glorified by His angels, and admired by them that love Him. Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God, so that when they shall see your boldness, they may say, “He has been with Jesus.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Bold for Our Master’s Cause

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. -Acts 4:13

Behold! what a change divine grace will work in a man, and in how short a time. That same Peter, who so lately followed his Master afar off, and with oaths and curses denied that he knew His name, is now to be found side by side with the loving John, boldly declaring that there is salvation in none other name save that of Jesus Christ, and preaching the resurrection of the dead, through the sacrifice of His dying Lord. The Scribes and Pharisees soon discover the reason of his boldness. Rightly did they guess that it rested not in his learning or his talents, for neither Peter nor John had been educated; they had been trained as fishermen; their education was a knowledge of the sea-of the fisherman’s craft; none other had they; their boldness could not therefore spring from the self-sufficiency of knowledge, but from the Spirit of the living God. Nor did they acquire their courage from their station; for rank will confer a sort of dignity upon a man, and make him speak with a feigned authority, even when he has no talent or genius; but these men were…private men, who stood in no official capacity; men without rank or station. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and private individuals, they marveled, and they came to a right conclusion as to the source of their power-they had been dwelling with Jesus. Their conversation with the Prince of light and glory, backed up, as they might also have known, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, without which even that eminently holy example would have been in vain, had made them bold for their Master’s cause. Oh! my brethren, it were well if this condemnation, so forced from the lips of enemies, could also be compelled by our own example. If we could live like Peter and John; if our lives were “living epistles of God, known and read of all men;” if, whenever we were seen, men would take knowledge of us, that we had been with Jesus, it would be a happy thing for this world, and a blessed thing for us…that men may perceive that you are disciples of the Holy Son of God.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Like Our Master

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

…(from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel). -Genesis 49:24

Now, Christian, the archers have sorely grieved you, and shot at you, and wounded you; but your bow abides in strength, and the arms of your hands are made strong. But do you know, O believer, that you are like your Master in this?

Jesus Christ was served just the same; the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, passed through similar trials; He was shot at by the archers, He was grieved and wounded, but His bow abode in strength…Christ came into the world as a Shepherd. As soon as He made His appearance, the Scribes and Pharisees said, “Ah! we have been the shepherds until this hour; now we shall be driven from our honors, we shall lose all our dignity, and our authority.” Consequently, they always shot at Him…

The builders cast Him away. He was a plebeian; He was of poor extraction; He was a man acquainted with sinners, who walked in poverty and meanness; hence the worldly-wise despised Him. But when God shall gather together, in one, all things that are in heaven and that are in earth, then Christ shall be the glorious consummation of all things.

“Christ reigns in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise.”

He shall be exalted; He shall be honored; His name shall endure as long as the sun, and all nations shall be blessed in Him, yea, all generations shall call Him blessed. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0017.cfm