Character of Jesus

Divine Restoration for the Smoking Flax

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory. -Matthew 12:20

So there is a backslider here this morning; he is like the smoking flax. Years gone by you found such happiness in the ways of the Lord, and such delight in His service, that you said, “There I would for ever stay.

‘What peaceful hours I then enjoyed;
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.'”

You are smoking, and you think God will put you out. If I were an Arminian, I should tell you that He would; but being a believer in the Bible, and nothing else, I tell you that He will not quench you. Though you are smoking, you shall not die. Whatever your crime has been, the Lord says, “Return ye backsliding children of men, for I will have mercy upon you.” He will not cast thee away, poor Ephraim; only come back to Him; He will not despise thee, though thou hast plunged thyself in the mire and dirt, though thou art covered from head to foot with filthiness; come back, poor prodigal, come back, come back! Thy Father calls thee. Hearken poor backslider! Come at once to Him whose arms are ready to receive thee. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Divine Compassion for the Bruised Reed

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.-Matthew 12:20

Notice what is first of all stated, and then let me tell you that Jesus Christ means a great deal more than He says. First of all, what does He say? He says plainly enough that He will not break the bruised reed. There is a bruised reed before me-a poor child of God under a deep sense of sin. It seems as if the whip of the law would never stop. It keeps on, lash, lash, lash; and though you say, “Lord, stop it, and give me a little respite,” still comes down the cruel thong, lash, lash, lash. You feel your sins. Ah! I know what you are saying this morning: “If God continues this a little longer my heart will break: I shall perish in despair; I am almost distracted by my sin; if I lie down at night I cannot sleep; it appears as if ghosts were in the room-ghosts of my sins-and when I awake at midnight, I see the black form of death staring at me, and saying, ‘Thou art my prey, I shall have thee;’ while hell behind seems to burn.” Ah! poor bruised reed, He will not break you; conviction shall not be too strong; it shall be great enough to melt thee, and to make thee go to Jesus’ feet; but it shall not be strong enough to break thy heart altogether, so that thou shouldst die. Thou shalt never be driven to despair; but thou shalt be delivered; thou shalt come out of the fire, poor bruised reed, and shalt not be broken.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

But by Divine Workmanship…

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

A bruised reed shall He not break, And smoking flax shall He not quench, Till He send forth judgment unto victory.- Matthew 12:20

When God puts His hand to a man, if he were worthless and useless before, He can make him very valuable. You know the price of an article does not depend so much upon the value of the raw material to begin with-bruised reeds and smoking flax; but by Divine workmanship both these things become of wondrous value. You tell me the bruised reed is good for nothing; I tell you that Christ will take that bruised reed and mend it up, and fit it in the pipes of heaven. Then when the grand orchestra shall send forth its music, when the organs of the skies shall peal forth their deep-toned sounds, we shall ask, “What was that sweet note heard there, mingling with the rest?” And some one shall say, “It was a bruised reed.” Ah! Mary Magdalene’s voice in heaven, I imagine, sounds more sweet and liquid than any other; and the voice of that poor thief, who said “Lord, remember me,” if it is a deep bass voice, is more mellow and more sweet than the voice of any other, because He loved much, for He had much forgiven him. This reed may yet be of use. Do not say you are good for nothing; you shall sing up in heaven yet. Do not say you are worthless; at last you shall stand before the throne among the blood-washed company, and shall sing God’s praise.

Ay! and the smoking flax too, what good can that be? I will soon tell you. There is a spark in that flax somewhere; it is nearly out, but still a spark remaineth…God can make a spark set a world on fire-He can light up a whole nation with the spark of one poor praying soul. You may be useful yet; therefore be of good cheer. Moss groweth upon gravestones; the ivy clingeth to the mouldering pile; the mistletoe groweth on the dead branch; and even so shall grace, and piety, and virtue, and holiness, and goodness, come from smoking flax and bruised reeds. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Comfort for the Offensive Ones

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

 A bruised reed shall He not break, and a smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.- Matthew 12:20

The two things here mentioned are offensive things. A bruised reed is offensive, for I believe there is an allusion here to the pipes of Pan, which you all know are reeds put together, along which a man moves his mouth, thus causing some kind of music. The bruised reed, then, would of course spoil the melody of all the pipes; one unsound tube would so let the air out, as to produce a discordant sound, or no sound at all, so that one’s impulse would be to take the pipe out and put in a fresh one. And, as for smoking flax, the wick of a candle or anything of that kind, I need not inform you that the smoke is offensive. To me no odour in all the world is so abominably offensive as smoking flax. But some say, “How can you speak in so low a style?” I have not gone lower than I could go myself, nor lower than you can go with me; for I am sure you are, if God the Holy Ghost has really humbled you, just as offensive to your own souls, and just as offensive to God as a bruised reed would be among the pipes, or as smoking flax to the eyes and nose…

Do you feel that you must be offensive in God’s sight-that you have so rebelled against Him, so turned away from His commandments, that surely you must be obnoxious to Him? …Ah! I have a word for thee… Comfort! comfort! comfort! Despair not; for Jesus saith He will not quench the smoking flax, He will not break the bruised reed. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Promises for the Worthless Ones

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

He will not break off even a bent stem of grass. He will not put out even the weakest flame. He will not give up until He has made justice victorious. – Matthew 12:20 (ERV)

(T)he things mentioned in our text are not only weak, but worthless things. I have heard of a man who would pick up a pin as he walked along the street, on the principle of economy; but I never yet heard of a man who would stop to pick up bruised reeds. They are not worth having. Who would care to have a bruised reed-a piece of rush lying on the ground? We all despise it as worthless. And smoking flax, what is the worth of that? It is an offensive and noxious thing; but the worth of it is nothing. No one would give the snap of a finger either for the bruised reed or smoking flax. Well, then, beloved, in our estimation there are many of us who are worthless things. There are some here, who, if they could weigh themselves in the scales of the sanctuary, and put their own hearts into the balance of conscience, would appear to be good for nothing-worthless, useless. There was a time when you thought yourselves to be the very best people in the world-when if any one had said that you had more than you deserved, you would have kicked at it, and said, “I believe I am as good as other people.” You thought yourselves something wonderful-extremely worthy of God’s love and regard; but you now feel yourselves to be worthless… Ah! that is how you talk of yourselves. You are good for nothing, so are these things. But Christ will not throw you away because you are of no value. You do not know of what use you may be, and you cannot tell how Jesus Christ values you after all.

(Y)ou think God must cast you out. You think if you were like Paul or Peter you might be safe. Ah! beloved, talk not so; Jesus Christ saith He will not quench the useless flax, nor break the worthless bruised reed; He has something for the useless and for the worthless ones…  C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

 

 

“No Strength Have I”

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

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench…
– Matthew 12:20

I know there are some very strong people here-I mean strong in their own ideas. I often meet with persons who would not confess any such weakness as this. They are strong minds. They say, “Do you think that we go into sin, sir? Do you tell us that our hearts are corrupt? We do not believe any such thing; we are good, and pure, and upright; we have strength and might.” To you… I am saying nothing; but take heed-your strength is vanity, your power is a delusion, your might is a lie-for however much you may boast in what you can do, it shall pass away; when you come to the real contest with death, you shall find that you have no strength to grapple with it: when one of these days of strong temptation shall come, it will take hold of you, moral man, and down you will go; and the glorious livery of your morality will be so stained, that though you wash your hands in snow water, and make yourselves never so clean, you shall be so polluted that your own clothes shall abhor you. I think it is a blessed thing to be weak. The weak one is a sacred thing; the Holy Ghost has made him such. Can you say, “No strength have I?” Then this text is for you. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm

Promises for The Weak Ones

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

“A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory”- Mat 12:20

(W)e have before us a view of mortal frailty-a bruised reed and a smoking flax-two very suggestive metaphors, and very full of meaning… I should say that the bruised reed is an emblem of a sinner in the first stage of his conviction. The work of God’s Holy Spirit begins with bruising. In order to be saved, the fallow ground must be ploughed up; the hard heart must be broken; the rock must be split in sunder… I take it then that the bruised reed is a picture of the poor sinner when first God commences His operation upon the soul; he is as a bruised reed, almost entirely broken and consumed; there is but little strength in him. The smoking flax I conceive to be a backsliding Christian; one who has been a burning and a shining light in his day, but by neglect of the means of grace, the withdrawal of God’s Spirit, and falling into sin, his light is almost gone out-not quite-it never can go out, for Christ saith, “I will not quench it;” but it becomes like a lamp when ill supplied with oil-almost useless…So I think these metaphors very likely describe the contrite sinner as a bruised reed, and the backsliding Christian as smoking flax.

Weak things, you see, are here described. Well, Christ says of them, “The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.” Let me go in search of the weaklings…Ah! dear friends, I know I have got hold of some of your hands now, and your hearts too; for you are saying, “Weak! Ah, that I am. Full often I am constrained to say, I would, but cannot sing; I would, but cannot pray; I would, but cannot believe.” You are saying that you cannot do anything; your best resolves are weak and vain; and when you cry, “My strength renew,” you feel weaker than before. You are weak, are you? …Blessed be God, this text is for you then. I am glad you can come in under the denomination of weak ones, for here is a promise that He will never break nor quench (you), but will sustain and hold (you) up. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0006.cfm