Character of Jesus

Costly Doubt

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

Thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. – Luke 1:20

Zacharias is a striking example of the ills a good man may have to suffer as the result of his unbelief. He was undoubtedly a believer. He is said, in the sixth verse, to have been righteous before God. No man ever obtained such a reputation except by faith. “The just shall live by faith.” No other righteousness than that which is faith is of any esteem in God’s account. Such was the righteousness of Abraham, and such was the righteousness of all the saints before the advent of our Redeemer. Such, too, has been the standard ever since. Zacharias evidently was a real believer. Yet for all that, when the angel appeared to him, and God gave him the promise of a son, he was amazed, bewildered, incredulous, and could not credit, but only question the announcement. “How shall I know that these things shall be?”

That he was well instructed in the Word of God is undeniable. He could not otherwise have discharged his duty, for the priest’s lips must keep knowledge, and he must teach men. Being proficient in the one, and competent for the other, ignorance offered him no excuse. Moreover, as a man of years, he was probably to be classed among the experienced saints of his time. He had borne the burden and heat of the day, and received proof upon proof of the abundant mercy of God. Now mark this. For any of us to doubt, who have been justified by faith is a shameful delinquency. For those to doubt who have, in addition to their first convictions, a thousand confirmations of the truth they have embraced, who are acquainted with the covenant and its rich inventory of promises, who are deeply taught in the things of God, for such to doubt involves a higher degree of guilt. I pray God that your conscience may be tenderly sensitive, and that you may be aroused to a sense of the dishonour you bring to Him by your faithlessness.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3495.cfm

This is Heaven Indeed

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. – Revelation 21:3

Mark, that in all Christ has, a believer has a share. This seems to me to be the sum total, and the crowning of it all- to reign with Christ, to ride in His triumphal chariot, and have a portion of His joy; to be honored with Him, to be accepted in Him, to be glorified with Him. This is heaven, this is heaven indeed.

Well said Chrysostom, “The pains of hell are not the greatest part of hell; the loss of heaven is the weightiest woe of hell;” to lose the sight of Christ, the company of Christ, to lose the beholding of His glories, this must be the greatest part of the damnation of the lost. Oh, you that have not this bright hope, how is it that you can live? You are going through a dark world, to a darker eternity. I beseech you stop and pause. Consider for a moment whether it is worth while to lose heaven for this poor earth. What! pawn eternal glories for the pitiful pence of a few moments of the world’s enjoyments? No, stop I beseech you; weigh the bargain ere you accept it. What shall it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul, and lose such a heaven as this?

But as for you who have a hope, I beseech you hold it fast, live on it, rejoice in it-

“A hope so much divine,
May trials well endure,
May purge your soul from sense and sin,
As Christ the Lord is pure.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

The Magnificence of Our Saviour

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy 8 Comments

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. – Romans 14:11

Can you imagine the magnificence of the Saviour? Can you conceive how thrones and princes, principalities and powers, all wait at His beck and command? Ye cannot tell how well the tiara of the universe doth fit His brow, or how the regal purple of all worlds doth gird His shoulders; but certain it is, from the highest heaven to the deepest hell, He is Lord of Lords-from the furthest east to the remotest west, He is master of all. The songs of all creatures find a focus in Him. He is the grand reservoir of praise. All the rivers run into the sea, and all the hallelujahs come to Him, for He is Lord of all. Oh, this is heaven-it is all the heaven I wish, to see my Master exalted; for this has often braced my loins when I have been weary, and often steeled my courage when I have been faint “The Lord also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, both of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth.”

We cannot read our Bibles and believe them literally, without believing that there are bright days coming, when Christ shall sit upon the throne of His father David, when He shall hold His court on earth, and reign amongst His ancients gloriously. But oh, if it be so, you and I shall see it, if we belong to the happy number, who have put their trust in Christ…Happy men and happy women who have such a hope, so to behold the Saviour’s glory. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

Beholding Christ’s Glory

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

“…that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me.” – John 17:24

This is heaven’s sweetest employment, “That they may behold My glory.” O for the tongue of an angel! O for the lip of Cherubim! for one moment to depict the mighty scenes which the Christian shall behold when he seeth the glory of his Master, Jesus Christ! Let us pass as in a panorama before your eyes the great scenes of glory which you shall behold after death. The moment the soul departs from this body, it will behold the glory of Christ. The glory of His person will be the first thing that will arrest our attention. There will He sit in the midst of the throne, and our eyes will first be caught with the glory of His appearance. Perhaps we shall be struck with astonishment. Is this the visage that was more marred than that of any man? Are these the hands that once rude iron tore? Is that the head that once was crowned with thorns? Oh, how shall our admiration rise, and rise, and rise to the very highest pitch, when we shall see Him who was-

“The weary Man, and full of woes
The humble Man before His foes,”

now King of Kings, and Lord of Lords…I doubt not the next glory we shall see will be the glory of His enthronement. Oh, how will the Christian stop at the foot of His Master’s throne and look upward, and if there could be tears in heaven, tears of rich delight will roll down his cheeks when he looks and sees the Man enthroned. “Oh,” saith he “I often used to sing on earth Crown Him! crown Him! crown Him! King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!” And now I see Him, up those hills of glorious light, my soul doth not dare to climb. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

Heaven’s Sweetest Joy

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Father 6 Comments

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” – John 17:24

A few more rolling suns, and you and I shall be in heaven. Go on, O Time! with thy swiftest pinions fly! A few more years, and I shall see His face. O canst thou say, my hearer, “I shall see His face?” Come, thou gray-headed one, nearing the goal of life, canst thou with confidence say, “I know that my Redeemer liveth?” If thou canst say that, it will fill thy soul with joy. I can never think of it without being moved to tears. To think that this head shall wear a crown; that these poor fingers shall strike the harp-strings of everlasting song; that this poor lip, which now faintly tells the wonders of redeeming grace, shall join with cherubim and seraphim, and rival them in melody. Is it not too good to be true? Does it not seem sometimes as if the very greatness of the thought overwhelmed our faith? But true it is, and though too great for us to receive it, it is not too great for God to give. We shall be with Him where He is. Yes, John; thou laidst thy head upon thy Saviour’s bosom once, and I have ofttimes envied thee; but I shall have thy place by-and-bye. Yes, Mary; it was thy sweet delight to sit at thy Master’s feet, while Martha was cumbered with her much serving. I too, am too much cumbered with this world; but I shall leave my Martha’s cares in the tomb and sit to hear thy Master’s voice. Yes, O spouse, thou didst ask to be kissed with the kisses of His lips, and what thou askedst for poor humanity shall yet see. And the poorest, meanest, and most illiterate of you, who have trusted in Jesus, shall yet put your lip to the lip of your Saviour, not as Judas did, but with a true “Hail, Master!” you shall kiss Him. And then, wrapped in the beams of His love, as a dim star is eclipsed in the sunlight, so shall you sink into the sweet forgetfulness of ecstacy, which is the best description we can give of the joys of the redeemed. “Father, I will that they whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” That is heaven’s sweetest joy, to be with Christ.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

Nothing Coming Between Us in Heaven

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 8 Comments

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. – 1 Corinthians 15:54

We have our hours of contemplation, when we do draw near to Jesus, but alas! how the world steps in and interrupts even our most quiet moments-the shop, the field, the child, the wife, the head, perhaps the very heart, all these are interlopers between ourselves and Jesus. Christ loves quiet; He will not talk to our souls in the busy market place, but He says, “Come, My love, into the vineyard, get thee away into the villages, there will I show thee My love.” But when we go to the villages, behold the Philistine is there, the Canaanite has invaded the land. When we would be free from all thought except thought of Jesus, the wandering band of Bedouin thoughts come upon us, and they take away our treasures, and spoil our tents. We are like Abraham with his sacrifice; we lay out the pieces ready for the burning, but foul birds come to feast on the sacrifice which we desire to keep for our God and for Him alone. We have to do as Abraham did; “When the birds came down upon the sacrifice, Abraham drove them away.” But in heaven there shall be no interruption, no weeping eyes shall make us for a moment pause in our vision, no earthly joys, no sensual delights, shall create a discord in our melody; there shall we have no fields to till, no garment to spin, no wearied limb, no dark distress, no burning thirst, no pangs of hunger, no weepings of bereavement; we shall have nought to do or think upon, but for ever to gaze upon that Sun of Righteousness, with eyes that cannot be blinded, and with a heart that can never be weary; to lie in those arms for ever; throughout a whole eternity to be pressed to His bosom, to feel the beatings of His ever faithful heart; to drink His love; to be satisfied for ever with His favor, and full with the goodness of the Lord! Oh! if we have only to die to get to such delights as these, death is gain, it is swallowed up in victory.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

How Sweet to Gaze on that Blessed Face

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

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. – 1 John 3:2

Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are! Christ comes and goes very much like an angel; His visits are few and far between with the most of us, and oh! so short-alas, too short for bliss. One moment our eyes see Him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see Him, our beloved withdraws Himself from us; like a roe or a young hart He leaps over the mountain of division; He is gone back to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies.

“If to-day He deigns to bless us
With a sense of pardoned sin,
He to-morrow may distress us,
Make us feel the plague within”

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not see Him at a distance, but face to face. There is a sermon in those words, “face to face.” And then we shall not see Him for a little time, but

“Millions of years our wondering eyes,
Shall o’er our Saviour’s beauties rove;
And myriad ages we’ll adore,
The wonders of His love.”

Oh, if it is sweet to see Him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blest days! when shall ye come, when our companionship with Christ shall be close and uninterrupted? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm