Attributes of God

Eternally Safe with God

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

…till He send forth judgment unto victory. Matthew 12:30

His blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress.

I want no other garments, save Jesus’ doings, and His imputed righteousness.

The boldest child of God wants no more; and I who am “less than the least of all saints,” can be content with no less, and I shall have no less. O Ready-to-Halt, thou art as much justified as Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, or the loftiest saint in heaven. There is no difference in that matter. Oh! take courage and rejoice.

If you were lost, God’s honor would be as much tarnished as if the greatest one were lost. A queer thing I once read in an old book about God’s children and people being a part of Christ and in union with Him. The writer says-“A father sitteth in his room, and there cometh in a stranger; the stranger taketh up a child on his knee, and the child hath a sore finger; so he saith, ‘My child, you have a sore finger;’ ‘Yes!’ ‘Well, let me take it off, and give thee a golden one!’ The child looketh at him and saith, ‘I will not go to that man any more, for he talks of taking off my finger; I love my own finger, and I will not have a golden one instead of it.'” So the saint saith, “I am one of the members of Christ, but I am like a sore finger, and He will take me off and put a golden one on.” “No,” said Christ, “no, no; I cannot have any of my members taken away; if the finger be a sore one, I will bind it up; I will strengthen it.” Christ cannot allow a word about cutting His members off. If Christ lose one of His people, He would not be a whole Christ any longer. If the meanest of His children could be cast away, Christ would lack a part of His fullness; yea, Christ would be incomplete without His Church. If one of His children must be lost, it would be better that it should be a great one, than a little one. If a little one were lost, Satan would say, “Ah! You save the great ones, because they had strength and could help themselves; but the little one that has no strength, You could not save him.” You know what Satan would say; but God would shut Satan’s mouth, by proclaiming, “They are all here, Satan, in spite of thy malice, they are all here; every one is safe; now lie down in thy den for ever, and be bound eternally in chains, and smoke in fire!” So shall he suffer eternal torment, but not one child of God ever shall. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Be Encouraged, Child of God

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory. -Matthew 12:20

The little children of God who are here mentioned as being bruised reeds or smoking flax are just as safe as the great saints of God… just as safe as those who are mighty for their Master, and great in strength, for several reasons. First of all, the little saint is just as much God’s elect as the great saint. When God chose His people, He chose them all at once, and altogether; and He elected one just as much as the other. If I choose a certain number of things, one may be less than the rest, but one is as much chosen as the other; and so Mrs. Fearing and Miss Despondency are just as much elected as Great-Heart, or Old Father Honest. Again: the little ones are redeemed equally with the great ones! (T)he feeble saints cost Christ as much suffering as the strong ones; the tiniest child of God could not have been purchased with less than Jesus’ precious blood; and the greatest child of God did not cost Him more. Paul did not cost any more than Benjamin (I am sure he did not) for I read in the Bible that “there is no difference.” Besides, when of old they came to pay their redemption-money, every person brought a shekel. The poor shall bring no less, and the rich shall bring no more than just a shekel. The same price was paid for the one as the other.

Now then little child of God, take that thought to thy soul. You see some men very prominent in Christ’s cause, and it is very good that they should be, but they did not cost Jesus a farthing more than you did; He paid the same price for you that He paid for them. Recollect again, you are just as much a child of God as the greatest saint… And so, dear friends, you may have very little learning, you may be very dark about divine things, you may but “see men as trees walking,” but you are as much the children of God as those who have grown to the stature of men in Christ Jesus. Then remember, poor tried saint, that you are just as much justified as any other child of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

 

Jesus’ Careful Work in the Weak

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.-Matthew 12:20

It says He will not quench-He will not break. But there is more under cover than we see at first sight. When Jesus says He will not break, He means more than that; He means, “I will take that poor bruised reed; I will plant it hard by the rivers of waters, and (miracle of miracles) I will make it grow into a tree whose leaf shall not wither; I will water it every moment; I will watch it; there shall be heavenly fruits upon it; I will keep the birds of prey from it; but the birds of heaven, the sweet songsters of paradise shall make their dwellings in the branches.” When He says that He will not break the bruised reed, He means more; He means that He will nourish, that He will help, and strengthen, and support and glorify-that He will execute His commission on it, and make it glorious for ever.

And when He says to the backslider that He will not quench him, He means more than that-He means that He will fan him up to a flame. Some of you, I dare say, have gone home from chapel and found that your fire had gone nearly out; I know how you deal with it; you blow gently at the single spark, if there is one, and lest you should blow too hard, you hold your finger before it; and if you were alone and had but one match, or one spark in the tinder, how gently would you blow it. So, backslider, Jesus Christ deals with thee; He does not put thee out; He blows gently; He says, “I will not quench thee;” He means, “I will be very tender, very cautious, very careful;” He will put on dry material, so that by-and-by a little spark shall come to a flame, and blaze up towards heaven, and great shall be the fire thereof.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Divine Restoration for the Smoking Flax

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory. -Matthew 12:20

So there is a backslider here this morning; he is like the smoking flax. Years gone by you found such happiness in the ways of the Lord, and such delight in His service, that you said, “There I would for ever stay.

‘What peaceful hours I then enjoyed;
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.'”

You are smoking, and you think God will put you out. If I were an Arminian, I should tell you that He would; but being a believer in the Bible, and nothing else, I tell you that He will not quench you. Though you are smoking, you shall not die. Whatever your crime has been, the Lord says, “Return ye backsliding children of men, for I will have mercy upon you.” He will not cast thee away, poor Ephraim; only come back to Him; He will not despise thee, though thou hast plunged thyself in the mire and dirt, though thou art covered from head to foot with filthiness; come back, poor prodigal, come back, come back! Thy Father calls thee. Hearken poor backslider! Come at once to Him whose arms are ready to receive thee. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Divine Compassion for the Bruised Reed

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.-Matthew 12:20

Notice what is first of all stated, and then let me tell you that Jesus Christ means a great deal more than He says. First of all, what does He say? He says plainly enough that He will not break the bruised reed. There is a bruised reed before me-a poor child of God under a deep sense of sin. It seems as if the whip of the law would never stop. It keeps on, lash, lash, lash; and though you say, “Lord, stop it, and give me a little respite,” still comes down the cruel thong, lash, lash, lash. You feel your sins. Ah! I know what you are saying this morning: “If God continues this a little longer my heart will break: I shall perish in despair; I am almost distracted by my sin; if I lie down at night I cannot sleep; it appears as if ghosts were in the room-ghosts of my sins-and when I awake at midnight, I see the black form of death staring at me, and saying, ‘Thou art my prey, I shall have thee;’ while hell behind seems to burn.” Ah! poor bruised reed, He will not break you; conviction shall not be too strong; it shall be great enough to melt thee, and to make thee go to Jesus’ feet; but it shall not be strong enough to break thy heart altogether, so that thou shouldst die. Thou shalt never be driven to despair; but thou shalt be delivered; thou shalt come out of the fire, poor bruised reed, and shalt not be broken.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

But by Divine Workmanship…

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation 7 Comments

A bruised reed shall He not break, And smoking flax shall He not quench, Till He send forth judgment unto victory.- Matthew 12:20

When God puts His hand to a man, if he were worthless and useless before, He can make him very valuable. You know the price of an article does not depend so much upon the value of the raw material to begin with-bruised reeds and smoking flax; but by Divine workmanship both these things become of wondrous value. You tell me the bruised reed is good for nothing; I tell you that Christ will take that bruised reed and mend it up, and fit it in the pipes of heaven. Then when the grand orchestra shall send forth its music, when the organs of the skies shall peal forth their deep-toned sounds, we shall ask, “What was that sweet note heard there, mingling with the rest?” And some one shall say, “It was a bruised reed.” Ah! Mary Magdalene’s voice in heaven, I imagine, sounds more sweet and liquid than any other; and the voice of that poor thief, who said “Lord, remember me,” if it is a deep bass voice, is more mellow and more sweet than the voice of any other, because He loved much, for He had much forgiven him. This reed may yet be of use. Do not say you are good for nothing; you shall sing up in heaven yet. Do not say you are worthless; at last you shall stand before the throne among the blood-washed company, and shall sing God’s praise.

Ay! and the smoking flax too, what good can that be? I will soon tell you. There is a spark in that flax somewhere; it is nearly out, but still a spark remaineth…God can make a spark set a world on fire-He can light up a whole nation with the spark of one poor praying soul. You may be useful yet; therefore be of good cheer. Moss groweth upon gravestones; the ivy clingeth to the mouldering pile; the mistletoe groweth on the dead branch; and even so shall grace, and piety, and virtue, and holiness, and goodness, come from smoking flax and bruised reeds. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Comfort for the Offensive Ones

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

 A bruised reed shall He not break, and a smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.- Matthew 12:20

The two things here mentioned are offensive things. A bruised reed is offensive, for I believe there is an allusion here to the pipes of Pan, which you all know are reeds put together, along which a man moves his mouth, thus causing some kind of music. The bruised reed, then, would of course spoil the melody of all the pipes; one unsound tube would so let the air out, as to produce a discordant sound, or no sound at all, so that one’s impulse would be to take the pipe out and put in a fresh one. And, as for smoking flax, the wick of a candle or anything of that kind, I need not inform you that the smoke is offensive. To me no odour in all the world is so abominably offensive as smoking flax. But some say, “How can you speak in so low a style?” I have not gone lower than I could go myself, nor lower than you can go with me; for I am sure you are, if God the Holy Ghost has really humbled you, just as offensive to your own souls, and just as offensive to God as a bruised reed would be among the pipes, or as smoking flax to the eyes and nose…

Do you feel that you must be offensive in God’s sight-that you have so rebelled against Him, so turned away from His commandments, that surely you must be obnoxious to Him? …Ah! I have a word for thee… Comfort! comfort! comfort! Despair not; for Jesus saith He will not quench the smoking flax, He will not break the bruised reed. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm