Character of Jesus

Let Us Glorify God, as God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit 5 Comments

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:20

Let us glorify God, as God, every one of us. “Oh,” says one, “I am full of sin.” Come and glorify God, then, by confessing it to Him. “Oh, but I am not pardoned.” Come and glorify Him by accepting pardon through the blood of His dear Son. “Oh, but I am of an evil heart.” Come and glorify Him by telling Him so, and asking His Spirit to renew you in your mind. Come, yield yourself to His sweet gospel. May His blessed Spirit incline you so to do. Come, take Him now to be your God. Have you forgotten Him? Remember Him. Have you neglected Him? Seek Him. Have you offended Him? Mourn before Him. Say, “I will arise, and go unto my Father.” Your Father waits to receive you. Glorify Him as God.

And then, let us begin to be very thankful, if we have not been so before. Let us praise God for common mercies, for they prove to be uncommonly precious when they are once taken away. Bless God for your reason: bless Him for your existence. Bless God for the means of grace, for an open Bible, for the throne of grace, for the preaching of the Word. You that are saved must lead the song. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Bless Him for His Son. Bless Him for His Spirit. Bless Him for His Fatherhood. Bless Him that you are His child. Bless Him for what you have received. Bless Him for what He has promised to give. Bless Him for the past, the present, and the future… ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Oh, Brothers and Sisters, Dread Unthankfulness!

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

…when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. – Romans 1:21

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. – Colossians 3:15

If your spirit is not sweetened by the adoration and the love of God, it will grow bitter. If love does not reign, hate will rule. Look at unthankful people. Hear them talk. Nobody’s character is safe. There is no neighbour whom they will not slander. There is no Christian man whom they will not misrepresent. The very angels of God would not be safe from suspicion if they lived near to people of that kind. But when you glorify God as God, and are thankful for everything-when you can take up a bit of bread and a cup of cold water, and say with the poor Puritan, “What, all this, and Christ too?”-then are you happy, and you make others happy. A godly preacher, finding that all that there was for dinner was a potato and a herring, thanked God that he had ransacked sea and land to find food for His children. Such a sweet spirit breeds love to everybody, and makes a man go through the world cheerfully. If you give way to the other order of feeling, and do not glorify God, but quarrel with Him, and have no thankfulness for His mercies, then you will suck in the spirit of the devil, and you will get into Satan’s mind, and be of his temper, and by-and-by his works you will do. Oh, brothers and sisters, dread unthankfulness! Perhaps you did not think that it was so bad, but it is horrible! God help you to escape from it! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Trust the Merciful God

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

The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate. – Psalm 34:22

…when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God… – Romans 1:21

In revelation God has presented Himself as the object of trust to His creatures, and He has promised that all who trust in Him shall be forgiven their transgressions through the atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. Such as trust Him He declares shall be saved; and he sends out a messenger of mercy to all mankind, proclaiming-“He that believeth in Him is not condemned.” He bids sinners come and trust under the shadow of His wing; and He declares that none that come to Him will ever be cast out. Revealing Himself in Christ Jesus, He pleads with guilty men. Asking nothing of them, He entreats them to accept His mercy, which He freely presents to them without money and without price. Making no distinction in the gospel-call, He bids men come to Him, saying, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there is none else.” When proud man replies, “No, I shall trust in myself, trust in my own works, trust in my own prayers, but I shall not trust in Christ,” then he knows God, but he glorifies him not as God, and when he perishes he will be without excuse. What kind of God is that whom we will not trust? How do we honour Him when we refuse to believe Him? Do we accept His Godhead, and yet refuse His mercy? This cannot be. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Expectancy

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

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. – 1 John 5:15

I was awakened at about four o’clock this morning by a sharp shrill sound. I thought it was a swallow screaming by the window, and I fell asleep again. A young bird had found its way into my room, and was crying for liberty. I left my bed and opened the window to let the captive free. It did not seem to know its way, and so I caught it and gently placed it at the window, and in a moment it flew to the oak tree close by and sat itself down. I watched its movement. The moment it had perched itself comfortably it began to utter sharp cries, and it turned its little head round on all sides as if looking for some one. It was crying for its mother, and why? Because it expected to be fed. And why did it expect to be fed? Because it had been fed before. If it had been a full-grown bird, it would not have called for food, but would have helped itself; but this poor little creature had been nourished by its parents, and it was looking round to be supplied again. This is why we pray.

O Lord, thou hast supplied our wants so long and so often in answer to prayer, that we are in the way of it; and now we pray, not only because we ought to do so, but because it has become natural to us to pray, and we expect Thee to hear us. When Thou dost hear us we bless Thee, but we are not surprised, as though it were a strange thing. Thy truth causes great admiration but no astonishment, for it is like Thee to keep thy word, We are poor dependent children, and Thou a wise and tender Father; Thou has never left us and Thou wilt never leave us, and so we continue instant in prayer, because we are expectant of Thy grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm

Groanings

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. – Romans 8:26

Pray when you can pray, and pray when you cannot pray. “Alas, sir, I cannot get beyond a groan.” Brother, be not distressed, for the best praying in all the world consists of “groanings that cannot be uttered.” We may sometimes have a doubt whether the Spirit of God helps us to pray in cheerful prayers, though I do not say that there is any need for the doubt,-but we cannot have a question about our sad prayings, for it is expressly said He “maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Do you think that the chief end of a Christian’s life is to be comfortable? It is often more good to us to mourn like doves than to sing like nightingales. Sometimes there may be more prayer in a sigh than in a long oration. Often do I myself personally look back upon times of bondage when I cried to God with all my soul, and thought I did not pray, and I wish that I prayed now as I did then. Therefore always pray; whether you feel in a mind for prayer or not, still pray. The fisherman at Mentone keep on fishing with their great net; ay, by the score these fishermen take it out and haul it in again, and frequently they get no more than one little sardine for their pains. Many and many a time I have seen no more than they could hold in their hand as the produce of a net which covered acres of the sea. But why do they go on? Because they are fishermen, and cannot do anything else. You and I are praying men, and there is nothing else we can do but wait upon the Lord. So if, after many a throw of the net, we get but one small answer, we will try again, for this is all we can do. “Lord, to whom should we go but Thee?” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm

Adoption Begets Prayer

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. – Hebrews 7:25

“Nor prayer is made on earth alone;
The Holy Spirit pleads;
And Jesus, on the eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.”

Prayer was dear to Jesus when He was the Man of Nazareth upon the mountain’s lonely side; and prayer is dear to Him now that as the Son of God He intercedes in glory. Even to Him the covenant hath this condition of prayer appended, “Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.” Prayer is the atmosphere which surrounds Emanuel’s land: as the clouds hang on the mountains, so doth prayer linger over every great mercy of God.

Prayer is connected with every covenant blessing. Why, beloved, it is to him that calleth upon the name of the Lord that the promise of salvation is given. Our heavenly Father gives the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him. Justification was given to the publican rather than to the Pharisee, because he had offered humble, believing, acceptable prayer; whereas the Pharisee asked nothing, but only glorified himself. Adoption begets prayer, for it brings us the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. From election right onward to perfection in Christ there is no blessing of the covenant but what is understood, received, enjoyed, fed upon, and practically used in the way of prayer. Those who would safely navigate the sea of life must pray their passage to heaven. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm

Our Prayer-Hearing God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. – Hebrews 11:6

You cannot be instant in prayer, nay, you cannot offer an acceptable prayer at all except as you believe in the prayer-hearing God. The modern wise men assure us, with a patronizing air, that prayer is a pious exercise, exceedingly beneficial to ourselves, but quite inoperative with God. They are kind enough to allow us to pray, only we must not suppose that it has the slightest effect. And do they think that we are such idiots that we would stand and whistle to the wind and find good for our souls in such a stupid proceeding? They must have formed their notion of our mental condition from their own if they imagine that we should pray if we knew that God did not hear us, and would not answer us. Prayer apart from the idea of a hearing God is not praying; it is soliloquizing, or, in plainer words, a silly talking to yourself, such as one sees in half-witted old persons who have outlived what few senses they once possessed. You must believe that God is, and that your pleadings are a part of the divine way of blessing you, or else you are not praying but maundering and chattering. The Lord does really listen to the pleadings of His people, and though He does not alter His ordinance and His decree, yet in some way or other He makes the prayers of His people to be an efficient link in the machinery of His providence and grace, so that not without prayer doth He bless them, but with it He doth bless them abundantly. Dear friends, may the Lord the Holy Spirit stir us all up to be instant in mighty, energetic prayer. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm