Character of Jesus

The Black and Filthy Crime of Spiritual Adultery

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

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. – 1 John 5:19

Those who are sanctified have ceased to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; they have ceased to run with the multitude to do evil; they are not conformed to this present evil world; they are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. The more assuredly this is true of them the better. There are some, in these apostate days, who think that the church cannot do better than to come down to the world to learn her ways, follow her maxims, and acquire her “culture.” In fact, the notion is that the world is to be conquered by our conforming to it. This is as contrary to Scripture as the light is to the darkness. The more distinct the line between him that feareth God and him that feareth him not, the better all round. It will be a black day when the sun itself is turned into darkness. When the salt has lost its savor, and no longer opposes putrefaction, the world will rot with a vengeance. That text is still true, “Ye are of God, little children, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one.” The seed of the woman knows no terms with the serpent brood but continual war. Our Lord saith that in this matter He came not to send peace on the earth, but a sword. “Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” If the church seeks to cultivate the friendship of the world, she has this message from the Holy Ghost by the pen of the apostle James: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” He charges all who would please the world with the black and filthy crime of spiritual adultery. The heart which ought to be given to Christ and purity must not wander forth wantonly to woo the defiled and polluted things of this present evil world. Separation from the world is Christ’s prayer for us. “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” -John 17:17 ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

We Belong to Christ

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

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. – John 17:16

Beloved brethren, if the sprinkling of the blood has really taken effect upon us, we belong, from this time forth, unto Him that died for us, and rose again. We regard ourselves as God’s men, the liveried servants of the great King-that livery the robe of righteousness. We were as sheep going astray, but we have now returned unto the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls; and henceforth we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. If any should ask, “To whom belongest thou?” we answer, “I belong to Christ.” If any enquire, “What is thine occupation?” we reply with Jonah, “I fear God.” We are not now at our own disposal, neither can we hire ourselves out to inferior objects, mercenary aims, or selfish ambitions; for we are engaged by solemn contract to the service of our God. We have lifted up our hand unto the Lord, and we cannot draw back.

In addition to this, those who belonged to God, and were dedicated to His service, were set apart and separated from others...The Lord would have those who are dedicated to Him to be separated from the rest of mankind…The Lord saith of His chosen, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall shew forth My praise.” Before long this secret purpose is followed by the open call: “Come out from among them, and be ye separate; touch not the unclean thing, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.” The church of Christ is to be a chaste virgin, wholly set apart for the Lord Christ: His own words concerning His people are these, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Sanctify us, O Lord. Let us know, and let all the world know, that we are Thine, because we belong to Christ.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

The Holy of Holies of the Word of God

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

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth…And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. – John 17:17, 19

Here we look into the heart of Jesus, as He sets out in order His desires and requests before His Father on our behalf. Here inspiration lifts her veil, and we behold truth face to face. Our text lies somewhere near the middle of the prayer; it is the heart of it. Our Lord’s desire for the sanctification of His people pervades the whole prayer; but it is gathered up, declared, and intensified in the one sentence: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” How invaluable must the blessing of sanctification be when our Lord, in the highest reach of His intercession, cries: “Sanctify them!” In sight of His passion, on the night before His death, our Savior lifts His eyes to the great Father, and cries in His most plaintive tones, “Father, sanctify them.” He asks this sanctification of God the Father Himself, for He alone it is who can sanctify His people. The place whereon we stand is holy ground, and the subject whereof we speak demands our solemn thought. Come, Holy Spirit, and teach us the full meaning of this prayer for holiness!

“For their sakes I sanctify Myself.” Our Lord’s sanctification was His consecration to the fulfillment of the Divine purpose; His absorption in the will of the Father. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.” In this sense our interceding Lord asks that all His people may, by the Father, be ordained and consecrated unto holy service. The prayer means, “Father, consecrate them to Thine own self; let them be temples for Thine indwelling, instruments for Thy use.” He would have each of us consecrated unto the Lord, designated and ordained for divine purposes. We are not the world’s, else might we be ambitious; we are not Satan’s, else might we be covetous; we are not our own, else might we be selfish. We are bought with a price, and hence we are His by whom the price is paid. We belong to Jesus, and He presents us to His Father, and begs Him to accept us and sanctify us to His own purposes. Do we not most heartily concur in this dedication? Do we not cry, “Father, sanctify us to Thy service?” I am sure we do if we have realized our redeemed condition. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

This Wonderful Prayer

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

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.”-John 17:17

Our Lord Jesus prayed much for His people while He was here on earth. He made Peter the special subject of His intercession when He knew that he was in extraordinary danger. The midnight wrestlings of the Son of man were for His people…He poured out His soul in life before He poured it out unto death.

In this wonderful prayer, our Lord, as our great High Priest, appears to enter upon that perpetual office of intercession which He is now exercising at the right hand of the Father. Our Lord ever seemed, in the eagerness of His love, to be anticipating His work. Before He was set apart for His life-work, by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him, He must needs be about His Father’s business; before He finally suffered at the hands of cruel men, He had a baptism to be baptized with, and He was straitened till it was accomplished; before He actually died, He was covered with a bloody sweat, and was exceeding sorrowful even unto death; and in this case, before He in person entered within the veil, He made intercession for us. He never tarries when the good of His people calls for Him. His love hath wings as well as feet: it is true of Him evermore, “He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.” O beloved, what a friend we have in Jesus! so willing, so speedy to do for us all that we need. Oh that we could imitate Him in this, and be quick of understanding to perceive our line of service, and eager of heart to enter upon it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

A People Separated Unto God

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

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you… – 2 Corinthians 6:17

The more sin abounds in the world, the more ought the Church of God to seek after the strictest holiness. If ever there was an age that wanted back again the sternest form of Puritanism, it is this age. If ever there was a time when we needed the old original stamp of Methodists, we need them now, a people separated unto God, a people that have nothing to do but to please God and to save souls, a people that will not in any way bow themselves to the fashions of the time. For my part, I would like to see a George Fox come back among us, ay, Quaker as he was, to bear such a testimony as he did bear in the power of the Spirit of God against the evils of his time. God make us to feel that now, in the dark, we cannot be even as lenient as we might have been in brighter days towards the sin that surrounds us! Are any of you tempted into “society” so-called, and into the ways of that society? Every now and then, those who read the papers get some little idea of what is going on in “society.” The stench that comes from “society” tells us what it must be like, and makes us wish to keep clear of it. The awful revelations that were once before made, which caused us to be sick with shame and sorrow, might be made again; for there is just the same foulness and filthiness beneath the surface of the supposed greater decency. O Christian people, if you could but know, as the most of you ought not to know, how bad this world is, you would not begin to talk about its wonderful improvements, or to question the doctrine of human depravity…Keep yourselves to your Lord, and hear you this voice sounding through the darkness, the voice of a wisdom that sees more than you see, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty.” “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,” lift your hands to heaven, and pledge yourselves to walk a separated pilgrim life, until He cometh before whose face heaven and earth shall flee away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2477.cfm

Patient Endurance with Hopeful Watching

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

I can (endure) all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. – Philippians 4:13

Watch and pray… – Mark 13:33

We are here, like soldiers on guard, waiting for the dawn. It is night, and the night is deepening; how shall we occupy ourselves until the day break, and the shadows flee away?

Soldiers of the cross, you must not wish to avoid these shadows; He who has called you to this service knew that it would be night time, and He called you to night duty; and being put upon the night watch, keep at your post. It is not for any of us to say, “We will desert because it is so dark.” Has not the thought sometimes crossed your mind, “I am not succeeding; I will run away”? Have you not often felt, like Jonah, that you would go to Tarshish that you might escape from delivering your Master’s message? Oh, do not so! The day will break, and the shadows flee away; and until then, watch through the night, and fear not the shadows. Play the man, remembering through what a sevenfold night your Master passed, when, in Gethsemane, He endured even to a bloody sweat for you. When, on the cross, even His mid-day was midnight, what must have been the darkness over His spirit? He bore it; then bear you it. Let no thought of fear pass over your mind; or, if it does, let not your heart be troubled, but rise above your fear until the day break, and the shadows flee away. Be of good courage, soldiers of Christ, and still wait on in patient endurance.

Let there be hopeful watching. Keep your eyes towards the East, and look for the first grey sign of the coming morning. “Watch!” Oh, how little is done of this kind of work! We scarcely watch as we ought against the devil; but how little do we watch for the coming of our Master! Look for every sign of His appearing, and be ever listening for the sound of His chariot wheels. Keep the candle burning in the window, to let Him see that you are awake; keep the door on the latch, that when He cometh you may quickly open unto Him. Hopefully watch until the day break, and the shadows flee away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2477.cfm

Our Master’s Coming is Nearer Every Hour

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

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. – Revelation 20:22

I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and I cannot foretell what is yet to happen in the earth; it may be that the darkness will deepen still more, and that the shadows will multiply and increase; but the Lord will come. When He went up from Olivet, He sent two of His angels down to say, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” He is surely coming; and though the date of His return is hidden from our sight, all the signs of the times look as if He might come very speedily. I was reading, the other day, what old Master William Bridge says on this subject:-“If our Lord is coming at midnight, He certainly will come very soon, for it cannot be darker than it now is.” That was written two hundred years ago, but our Lord has not come yet, and I might say much the same as Master Bridge did. Do not doubt as to Christ’s coming because it is delayed. A person lies dying, and the report concerning him is, “Well, it does not look as if he could live many hours.” You call again, and they say, “Well, he still survives, but it seems as if he would scarcely get through the night.” Do you go away and say, “Oh, he will not die; for I have expected, for several days, to hear that he has passed away”? Oh, no! but each time you hear the report, you feel, “Well, it is so much nearer the end.” And so is our Master’s coming; it is getting nearer every hour, so let us keep on expecting it. That glorious advent shall end our weary waiting days, it shall end our conflicts with infidelity and priestcraft, it shall put an end to all our futile endeavors; and when the great Shepherd shall appear in His glory, then shall every faithful under-shepherd and all his flock appear with Him, and then shall the day break, and the shadows flee away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2477.cfm