Attributes of God

A Holy Preparation

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

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 1 Corinthians 11:29

I believe there ought to be a preparation before the Lord’s Supper. I do not believe in Mrs. Toogood’s preparation, who spent a week in preparing, and then finding it was not the Ordinance Sunday, she said she had lost all the week. I do not believe in that kind of preparation, but I do believe in a holy preparation for the Lord’s Supper: when we can on a Saturday if possible, spend an hour in quiet meditation on Christ, and the passion of Jesus; when, especially on the Sabbath afternoon, we can devoutly sit down and behold Him, then these scenes become realities, and not mockeries, as they are to some. I fear greatly that there are some of you who will drink the wine, and not think of His blood: and vile hypocrites you will be while you do it. Take heed to yourselves, “He that eateth and drinketh” unworthily, eateth and drinketh-what?-“damnation to himself.” This is a plain English word; mind what you are doing! Do not do it carelessly; for of all the sacred things on earth, it is the most solemn.  Here you are to drink blood from the veins of Christ, and sip the trickling stream which gushed from His own loving heart. Is not that a solemn thing? Ought anybody to trifle with it? To go to church and take it for sixpence? To come and join us for the sake of getting charities? Out upon it! It is an awful blasphemy against Almighty God; and amongst the damned in hell, those shall be among the most accursed who dared thus to mock the holy ordinance of God. This is the remembrance of Christ. “This do in remembrance of Me.” If you cannot do it in remembrance of Christ, I beseech you, as you love your souls, do not do it at all. Oh! unregenerate man or woman, enter not into the court of the priests, lest Israel’s God resent the intrusion. ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

A Sweet Aid to Memory

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 5 Comments

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. -John 6:51

Behold the whole mystery of the sacred Eucharist. It is bread and wine which are lively emblems of the body and blood of Jesus. The power to excite remembrance consists in the appeal thus made to the senses. Here the eye, the hand, the mouth, find joyful work. The bread is tasted, and entering within, works upon the sense of taste, which is one of the most powerful. The wine is sipped-the act is palpable. We know that we are drinking, and thus the senses, which are usually clogs to the soul, become wings to lift the mind in contemplation. Again, much of the influence of this ordinance is found in its simplicity. How beautifully simple the ceremony is-bread broken and wine poured out. There is no calling that thing a chalice, that thing a paten, and that a host. Here is nothing to burden the memory-here is the simple bread and wine. He must have no memory at all who cannot remember that he has eaten bread, and that he has been drinking wine. Note again, the mighty pregnancy of these signs-how full they are of meaning. Bread broken-so was your Saviour broken. Bread to be eaten-so His flesh is meat indeed. Wine poured out, the pressed juice of the grape-so was your Saviour crushed under the foot of divine justice: His blood is your sweetest wine. Wine to cheer your heart-so does the blood of Jesus. Wine to strengthen and invigorate you-so does the blood of the mighty sacrifice. Oh! make that bread and wine to your souls a sweet and blessed help of remembrance of that dear Man who once on Calvary died. Like the little ewe lamb, you are now to eat your Master’s bread and drink from His cup. Remember the hand which feeds you. ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

For Great is Your Reward in Heaven

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

If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. -John 15:20

“I cannot stand it any longer; I have been persecuted and ill-treated, because I love Christ; I am mocked, and laughed at, and despised: I try to bear it, but I really cannot. A man will be a man; tread upon a worm and he will turn upon you; my patience altogether fails me; I am in such a peculiar position that it is of no use to advise me to have patience, for patience I cannot have; my enemies are slandering me, and I do not know what to do.”

What shall we say to that poor man? How shall we give him patience? What shall we preach to him? You have heard what he has to say about himself. How shall we comfort him under this great trial? If we suffered the same, what should we wish some friend to say to us? Shall we tell him that other persons have borne as much? He will say, “Miserable comforters are ye all!” No, I will tell him, “Brother, you are persecuted; but remember the words of Jesus Christ, how He spake unto us, and said, ‘Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.” My brother! think of Him, who, when He died, prayed for His murderers, and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” All you have to bear, is as nothing compared with His mighty sufferings. Take courage; face it again like a man; never say die. Let not your patience be gone; take up your cross daily, and follow Christ. Let Him be your motto; set Him before your eyes. And, now, receiving this, hear what the man will say. He tells you at once-“Hail, persecution; welcome shame. Disgrace for Jesus shall be my honor, and scorn shall be my highest glory.

“‘Now, for the love I bear His name,
What was my gain I count my loss,
I pour contempt on all my shame,
And nail my glory to His cross.'”

~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

For the Creature’s Sake He Loves

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

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

Love never says, “Cui bono?” Love never asks what benefit it will derive from love. Love from its very nature is a disinterested thing. It loves; for the creature’s sake it loves, and for nothing else.

Remembrance of Jesus will tend to give you hope when you are under the burden of your sins… There comes in a poor creature. Look at him! He has neglected himself this last month; he looks as if he had hardly eaten his daily bread. What is the matter with you? “Oh!” says he, “I have been under a sense of guilt; I have been again and again lamenting, because I fear I can never be forgiven; once I thought I was good, but I have been reading the Bible, and I find that my heart is ‘deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;’ I have tried to reform, but the more I try, the deeper I sink in the mire, there is certainly no hope for me. I feel that I deserve no mercy; it seems to me that God must destroy me, for He has declared, ‘The soul that sinneth it shall die;’ and die I must, be damned I must, for I know I have broken God’s law.” How will you comfort such a man? What soft words will you utter to give him peace? I know! I will tell thee that there is one, who for thee hath made a complete atonement; if thou only believest on Him thou art safe for ever. Remember Him, thou poor dying, hopeless creature, and thou shalt be made to sing for joy and gladness. See, the man believes, and in ecstasy exclaims, “Oh! come all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what He hath done for my soul.”

“Tell it unto sinners, tell,
I am, I am out of hell.”

~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

Let Us Never Forget Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, salvation 5 Comments

And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. -Luke 22:44

I cannot help remembering Thee, when I think of those years of toil and trouble which Thou didst live for my sake. But you know my chosen theme-the place where I can always best remember Christ. It is a shady garden full of olives. O that spot! I would that I had eloquence, that I might take you there. Oh! if the Spirit would but take us, and set us down hard by the mountains of Jerusalem, I would say, see there runs the brook of Kedron, which the king himself did pass; and there you see the olive trees. Possibly, at the foot of that olive, lay the three disciples when they slept; and there, ah! there, I see drops of blood. Stand here, my soul, a moment; those drops of blood-dost thou behold them? Mark them; they are not the blood of wounds; they are the blood of a man whose body was then unwounded. O my soul picture Him when He knelt down in agony and sweat,-sweat, because He wrestled with God,-sweat, because He agonized with His Father. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” O Gethsemane! thy shades are deeply solemn to my soul. But ah! those drops of blood! Surely it is the climax of the height of misery; it is the last of the mighty acts of this wondrous sacrifice. Can love go deeper than that? Can it stoop to greater deeds of mercy? Oh! had I eloquence, I would bestow a tongue on every drop of blood that is there; that your hearts might rise in mutiny against your languor and coldness, and speak out with earnest burning remembrance of Jesus.

…Let us never forget Christ. I beseech you, for the love of Jesus, let Him have the chief place in your memories. Let not the pearl of great price be dropped from your careless hand into the dark ocean of oblivion. ~ C.H. Spurgoen

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

Remembering Christ After the Spirit

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life 2 Comments

Therefore from now on know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet from now on know we Him no more. -2 Corinthians 5:16

(S)ome will say, “How can we remember Christ’s person, when we never saw it? We cannot tell what was the peculiar form of His visage; we believe His countenance to be fairer than that of any other man-although through grief and suffering more marred-but since we did not see it, we cannot remember it. We never saw His feet as they trod the journeys of His mercy; we never beheld His hands as He stretched them out full of lovingkindness; we cannot remember the wondrous intonation of His language, when in more than seraphic eloquence He awed the multitude, and chained their ears to Him; we cannot picture the sweet smile that ever hung on His lips, nor that awful frown with which He dealt out anathemas against the Pharisees; we cannot remember Him in His sufferings and agonies, for we never saw Him.” Well, beloved, I suppose it is true that you cannot remember the visible appearance, for you were not then born; but do you not know that even the apostle said, though he had known Christ after the flesh, yet, thenceforth after the flesh he would know Christ no more. The natural appearance, the race, the descent, the poverty, the humble garb, were nothing in the apostle’s estimation of his glorified Lord. And thus, though you do not know Him after the flesh, you may know Him after the spirit; in this manner you can remember Jesus as much now as Peter, or Paul, or John, or James, or any of those favoured ones who once trod in His footsteps, walked side by side with Him, or laid their heads upon His bosom. Memory annihilates distance and over leapeth time, and can behold the Lord, though He be exalted in glory. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

Can It Be Possible?

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

“This do in remembrance of Me.”- 1 Corinthians 11:24

It appears almost impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood of the dying Lamb should ever forget their Ransomer; that those who have been loved with an everlasting love by the eternal Son of God, should ever forget that Son; but if startling to the ear, it is alas, too apparent to the eye to allow us to deny the fact. Forget Him who ne’er forgot us! Forget Him who poured His blood forth for our sins! Forget Him who loved us even to the death! Can it be possible? Yes it is not only possible, but conscience confesses that it is too sadly a fault of all of us, that we can remember anything except Christ. The object which we should make the monarch of our hearts, is the very thing we are most inclined to forget. Where one would think that memory would linger, and unmindfulness would be an unknown intruder, that is the spot which is desecrated by the feet of forgetfulness, and that the place where memory too seldom looks. I appeal to the conscience of every Christian here: Can you deny the truth of what I utter? Do you not find yourselves forgetful of Jesus? Some creature steals away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom your affection ought to be set. Some earthly business engrosses your attention when you should have your eye steadily fixed upon the cross. It is the incessant round of world, world, world; the constant din of earth, earth, earth, that takes away the soul from Christ. Oh! my friends, is it not too sadly true that we can recollect anything but Christ, and forget nothing so easy as Him whom we ought to remember? While memory will preserve a poisoned weed, it suffereth the Rose of Sharon to wither. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm