Character of Jesus

The Deep Things of God

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

As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.-1 Corinthians 2:9-10

How very frequently at our prayer meetings do we hear our brethren describing heaven as a place of which we cannot conceive! They say, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him;” and there they stop, not seeing that the very marrow of the whole passage lies in this: “But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.”

Any one who reads the connection will discover that the apostle is not talking about heaven at all. He is only speaking of this: that the wisdom of this world is not able to discover the things of God; that the merely carnal mind is not able to know the deep spiritual things of our most holy religion. He says, “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”…”But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I take it, that this text is a great general fact, capable of specific application to certain cases; and that the great fact is this: that the things of God cannot be perceived by eye, and ear, and heart, but must be revealed by the Spirit of God; as they are unto all true believers. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0056.cfm

They Did See Him

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

And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. -1 Corinthians 15:5-8

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the best attested facts on record. There were so many witnesses to behold it, that if we do in the least degree receive the credibility of men’s testimonies, we cannot and we dare not doubt that Jesus rose from the dead. It is all very easy for infidels to say that these persons were deceived, but it is equally foolish, for these persons could not every one of them have been so positively deceived as to say that they had seen this man, whom they knew to have been dead, afterwards alive; they could not all, surely, have agreed together to help on this imposture: if they did, it is the most marvelous thing we have on record, that not one of them ever broke faith with the others, but that the whole mass of them remained firm. We believe it to be quite impossible that so many rogues should have agreed for ever. They were men who had nothing to gain by it; they subjected themselves to persecution by affirming the very fact; they were ready to die for it, and did die for it. Five hundred or a thousand persons who had seen Him at different times, declared that they did see Him, and that He rose from the dead; the fact of His death having been attested beforehand. How, then, dare any man say that the Christian religion is not true, when we know for a certainty that Christ died and rose again from the dead? And knowing that, who shall deny the divinity of the Saviour? Who shall say that He is not mighty to save? Our faith hath a solid basis, for it hath all these witnesses on which to rest, and the more sure witness of the Holy Spirit witnessing in our hearts. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0066.cfm

Take Care of Your Body

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

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? -1 Corinthians 3:16

If your bodies are to dwell in heaven, I beseech you take care of them. I do not mean, take care of what you eat and drink, and wherewithal you shall be clothed; but I mean, take care that you do not let your bodies be polluted by sin. If this throat is to warble for ever with songs of glory, let not words of lust defile it. If these eyes are to see the King in His beauty, even let this be your prayer, “Turn off my eyes from beholding vanities.” If these hands are to hold a palm branch, oh, let them never take a bribe, let them never seek after evil. If these feet are to walk the golden streets, let them not be swift after mischief. If this tongue is for ever to talk of all He said and did, ah! let it not utter light and frothy things. And if this heart is to pulsate for ever with bliss, I beseech you give it not unto strangers; neither let it wander after evil. If this body is to live for ever, what care we ought to take of it; for our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost, and they are members of the Lord Jesus. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0066.cfm

The Incorruptible Temple

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

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? -1 Corinthians 6:19

This body, Paul says, is the temple of the Holy Ghost; and where the Holy Ghost dwells in a body, He not only sanctifies it, but renders it eternal. The temple of the Holy Ghost is as eternal as the Holy Ghost. You may demolish other temples and their gods too, but the Holy Ghost cannot die, nor “can His temple perish.” Shall this body which has once had the Holy Ghost in it be always food for worms? Shall it never be seen more, but be like the dry bones of the valley? No; the dry bones shall live, and the temple of the Holy Ghost shall be built up again. Though the legs, the pillars, of that temple fall-though the eyes, the windows of it be darkened, and those that look out of them see no more, yet God shall re-build this fabric, re-light the eyes, and restore its pillars and regild it with beauty, yea, “this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible put on incorruption.

If Christ rose from the dead then all His people must; that if there be no resurrection, then is Christ not risen…As Christ actually rose from the dead, flesh and bones, so shall we. Christ was not a spirit when He rose from the dead; His body could be touched. Did not Thomas put his hand into His side? and did not Christ say, “Handle Me, and see. A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have.”…There is one body for the soul here, and another body for the spirit up there; and yet it shall be the same body that will rise again from the grave; the same I say in identity, though not in glory or in adaptation. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0066.cfm

The Resurrection of Our Body

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

There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both the of the just and unjust.- Act 24:15

Our Saviour brought the resurrection to light in the most excellent manner, for He explicitly and frequently declared it. “Marvel not,” said He, “at what I have said unto you. Behold the hour cometh when they that are in their graves shall hear the voice of God.” “The hour is coming when He will call the dead to judgment, and they shall stand before His throne.” Indeed, throughout His preaching, there was one continued flow of firm belief, and a public and positive declaration of the resurrection of the dead.

Christ died not only to save my soul, but to save my body. It is said He “came to seek and to save that which was lost.” When Adam sinned, he lost his body, and he lost his soul too; he was a lost man, lost altogether. And when Christ came to save His people, He came to save their bodies and their souls. “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord.” Is this body for the Lord, and shall death devour it? Is this body for the Lord, and shall winds scatter its particles far away where they never shall discover their fellows? No! the body is for the Lord, and the Lord shall have it. “And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise us by His own power. “…”Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ.” Not merely is the soul united to Christ, but the body is also…The golden chain which binds Christ to His people goes round the body and soul too. Did not the apostle say, “they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.” They are one flesh; and Christ’s people are not only one with Him in spirit, but they are “one flesh” too. The flesh of man is united with the flesh of the God-Man; and our bodies are members of Jesus Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0066.cfm

Returning to God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. -Hebrews 12:2

This generation hath gradually, and almost imperceptibly, become to a great extent a godless generation. One of the diseases of the present generation of mankind, is their secret, but deep-seated, godlessness by which they have so far departed from the knowledge of God. Science has discovered to us second causes; and hence, many have too much forgotten the first Great Cause, the Author of all: they have been able so far to pry into secrets, that the great axiom of the existence of a God, has been too much neglected. Even among professing Christians, while there is a great amount of religion, there is too little godliness: there is much external formalism, but too little inward acknowledgment of God, too little living on God, living with God, and relying upon God. Hence arises the sad fact that when you enter many of our places of worship you will certainly hear the name of God mentioned; but except in the benediction, you would scarcely know there was a Trinity. In many places dedicated to Jehovah the name of Jesus is too often kept in the background; the Holy Spirit is almost entirely neglected; and very little is said concerning His sacred influence. Even religious men have become to a large degree godless in this age. We sadly require more preaching regarding God; more preaching of those things which look not so much at the creature to be saved, as at God the Great One to be extolled. My firm conviction is, that in proportion as we have more regard for the sacred godhead, the wondrous Trinity in Unity, shall we see a greater display of God’s power, and a more glorious manifestation of His might in our churches. May God send us a Christ-exalting, Spirit-loving ministry-men who shall proclaim God the Holy Ghost in all His offices and shall extol God the Saviour as the author and finisher of our faith, not neglecting that Great God, the Father of His people, who, before all worlds, elected us in Christ His Son, justified us through His righteousness, and will inevitably preserve us and gather us together in one, in the consummation of all things at the last great day.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0050.cfm

 

God Sanctifies Your Spirit

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. -John 17:17

The best proof I can give you of the holy tendency of our doctrines is this great fact, that in every age those who have held the doctrines of grace have exhibited in their lives a holy walk and conversation…And we have told you that the Holy Ghost gives a new heart, and a right spirit, and that there is something more required than you can do yourselves; that you are unable to perform such good things as God expects from you, therefore God the Spirit must renovate you.

“Except ye have the spirit of Christ, ye are none of His.” Except ye live like Christ, ye shall not be with Christ at last; if your spirit be not sanctified in this world, you will not find that God will sanctify you when you come before His throne. But you, poor sinners, who have no holiness of your own, and no good works at all; I know you have not any, because you are not a child of God. Do you feel that you have not? Come then, and Christ will give you some: He will give you Himself. If you believe on the Lord Jesus, He will wash you from all your sins, give you a new heart, and henceforth your life shall be holy, your conduct shall be consistent, He shall keep you to the end, and you shall most assuredly be saved. God bless this testimony to any such as are living in sin, that they may be reclaimed from it; for Christ’s sake! Amen.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0070.cfm