Character of Jesus

A Proportion to Be Experienced

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 2 Comments

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. -2 Corinthians 1:5

As the sufferings of Christ abound in us so the consolations of Christ abound. Here is a blessed proportion. God always keeps a pair of scales-in this side He puts His people’s trials and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, even so shall consolation abound by Christ. This is a matter of pure experience. Some of you do not know anything at all about it. You are not Christians, you are not born again, you are not converted; ye are unregenerate, and, therefore, ye have never realized this wonderful proportion between the sufferings and the consolations of a child of God. Oh! it is mysterious that, when the black clouds gather most, the light within us is always the brightest. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the heavenly Captain is always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of Christ.

“Is Jesus mine! I am now prepared,
To meet with what I thought most hard;
Yes, let the winds of trouble blow,
And comforts melt away like snow,

No blasted trees, nor failing crops,
Can hinder my eternal hopes;
Tho’ creatures change, the Lord’s the same;
Then let me triumph in His name.

~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

The Triumph is the Lord’s

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! -Psalm 47:1

Christian, thou fightest side by side with Jesus; Christ is with thee; every blow is a blow aimed at Christ; every slander is a slander on Christ; the battle is the Lord’s; the triumph is the Lord’s, therefore, still on to victory! I remember a story of a great commander, who, having won many glorious victories, led his troops into a defile, and when there, a large body of the enemy entirely surrounded him. He knew a battle was inevitable on the morning, he therefore went round to all the tents, to hear in what condition his soldier’s minds were-whether they were dispirited or not. He came to one tent, and as he listened, he heard a man say, “There is our general; he is very brave, but he is very unwise this time; he has led us into a place where we are sure to be beaten; there are so many of the enemy’s cavalry, so many infantry:” and then the man counted up all the troops on their own side, and made them only so many. Then the commander, after he had heard the tale, gently drew aside a part of the tent, and said, “How many do you count me for? You have counted the infantry and cavalry; but how many do you count me for-me, your mighty captain, who have won so many victories.”

Now, Christian, I say, how many do you count one? He is not one, nor a thousand: He is the “chief among ten thousand.” But He is more than that. Oh! put Him down for a high figure; and when thou countest up thine aids and auxiliaries, put down Christ for all in all, for in Him victory is certain-the triumph is secure. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

The Trials of Christ

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church –Colossians 1:24

Now, as Christ, the head, had a certain amount of suffering to endure, so the body must also have a certain weight laid upon it. Our afflictions are the sufferings of Christ mystical, the sufferings of Christ’s body, the sufferings of Christ’s church; for you know that if a man could be so tall as to have his head in heaven and his feet at the bottom of the sea, it would be the same body, and the head would feel the sufferings of the feet. So, though my head is in heaven, and I am on earth, my griefs are Christ’s griefs; my trials are Christ’s trials, my afflictions, He suffers.

“I feel at my heart all Thy sighs and Thy groans,
For Thou art most near me, my flesh and my bones;
In all thy distresses, thy Head feels the pain,
Yet all are most needful, not one is in vain.”

The trials of a true Christian are as much the sufferings of Christ, as the agonies of Calvary.

Still you say, “We want to discern whether our troubles are the trials of Christ.” Well, they are the trials of Christ, if you suffer for Christ’s sake. If you are called to endure hardness for the sake of the truth, then those are the sufferings of Christ. If you suffer for your own sake, it may be a punishment for your own sins; but if you endure for Christ’s sake, then they are the trials of Christ… So, dear hearts, go on, go on; and if ye suffer for Christ’s sake, they are Christ’s sufferings.  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

A Distinction to Be Noticed

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin – 1 Peter 4:1

Our sufferings are said to be the sufferings of Christ. Now, suffering in itself is not an evidence of Christianity. There are many people who have trials and troubles who are not children of’ God. I have heard some poor whining people come and say, “I know I am a child of God because I am in debt, because I am in poverty, because I am in trouble.” Do you indeed? I know a great many rascals in the same condition; and I don’t believe you are a child of God any the more because you happen to be in poor circumstances. There are abundance who are in trouble and distress besides God’s children. It is not the peculiar lot of God’s family; and if I had no other ground of my hope as a Christian, except my experience of trials, I should have but very poor ground indeed. But there is a distinction to be noticed. Are these sufferings the sufferings of Christ, or are they not? A man is dishonest, and is put in jail for it; a man is a coward and men hiss at him for it; a man is insincere, and, therefore, persons avoid him. Yet he says he is persecuted. Persecuted! Not at all; it serves him right. He deserves it. But such persons will comfort themselves with the thought, that they are “the dear people of God,” because other people avoid them; when it so happens that they just deserve it. They do not live as they ought to do; therefore the world’s punishment is their desert. Take heed, beloved, that your sufferings are true sufferings of Christ; be sure they are not your own sufferings; for if they are, you will get no relief. It is only when they are the sufferings of Jesus that we may take comfort. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

 

 

In the Land of Enemies

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

If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. – John 15:19

(M)an of God, look around thee. Do not be asleep. Open thine eyes, and look around thee… This is a wicked world… “Cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm.” Blessed is he that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is”…The world is not to be trusted in, not to be relied upon…  Look around thee my brother; thou wilt see some good hearts, strong and valiant; thou wilt see some true souls, sincere and honest; thou wilt see some faithful lovers of Christ; but I tell thee O child of light, that where thou meetest one sincere man, thou wilt meet twenty hypocrites; where thou wilt find one that will lead thee to heaven, thou wilt find a score who would push thee to hell. Thou art in a land of enemies, not of friends.

O Christian! the world is not thy friend. If it is, then thou art not God’s friend; for he who is the friend of the world is the enemy of God; and he who is despised of men, is often loved of Jehovah. Thou art in an enemy’s country, man: therefore, expect trouble: expect that the man who “eats thy bread will lift up his heel against thee;” expect that thou shalt be estranged from those that love thee; be assured that since thou art in the land of the foe, thou shalt find foemen everywhere. When thou sleepest, think that thou sleepest on the battle-field; when thou walkest believe that there is an ambush in every hedge. Oh! take heed, take heed: this is no good world to shut thine eyes in. Look around thee, man; and when thou art upon the watch-tower, reckon surely that trouble cometh. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

The Sufferings Are to be Expected

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. -Luke 14:27

Our holy Apostle says “The sufferings of Christ abound in us.” Before we buckle on the Christian armour we ought to know what that service is which is expected of us… Jesus Christ Himself said, “Count the cost.” He wished to have no disciple who was not prepared to go all the way-“to bear hardness as a good soldier.” I have sometimes heard religion described in such a way that its high coloring displeases me. It is true “her ways are ways of pleasantness;” but it is not true that a Christian never has sorrow or trouble. It is true that light-eyed cheerfulness, and airy-footed love, can go through the world without much depression and tribulation but it is not true that Christianity will shield a man from trouble; nor ought it to be so represented. In fact, we ought to speak of it in the other-way.

Soldier of Christ, if thou enlisteth, thou wilt have to do hard battle. There is no bed of down for thee; there is no riding to heaven in a chariot; the rough way must be trodden; mountains must be climbed, rivers must be forded, dragons must be fought, giants must be slain, difficulties must be overcome, and great trials must be borne…it is only pleasant because of the company, because of the sweet promises on which we lean, because of our Beloved who walks with us through all the rough and thorny brakes of this vast wilderness.

Christian, expect trouble: “Count it not strange concerning the fiery trial, and as though some strange thing had happened unto thee;” for as truly as thou art a child of God, thy Saviour hath left thee for his legacy,-“In the world, ye shall have tribulation; in Me ye shall have peace.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

 

Consolation Proportionate to Spiritual Sufferings

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

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”- 2 Corinthians 1:5

Seek ye rest from your distresses ye children of woe and sorrow? This is the place where ye may lighten your burden, and lose your cares… this is the place where God designs to cheer thee, and to make thy distresses stay their never ceasing course; this is the spot where His children love to be found, because here they find consolation in the midst of tribulation, joy in their sorrows, and comfort in their afflictions… Ay, my friends, if it were not true, ye might weep. If the Bible were not the truth of God-if we could not meet together around His mercy seat, then ye might put your hands upon your loins and walk about as if ye were in travail. If ye had not something in the world beside your reason, beside the fleeting joys of earth-if ye had not something which God had given to you, some hope beyond the sky, some refuge that should be more than terrestrial, some deliverance which should be more than earthly, then ye might weep;-ah! weep your heart out at your eyes, and let your whole bodies waste away in one perpetual tear. Ye might ask the clouds to rest on your head, the rivers to roll down in streams from both your eyes, for your grief would “have need of all the watery things that nature could produce.”

But, blessed be God, we have consolation, we have joy in the Holy Ghost. We find it nowhere else. We have raked the earth through, but we have discovered ne’er a jewel; we have turned this dunghill-world o’er and o’er a thousand times, and we have found nought that is precious; but here, in this Bible, here in the religion of the blessed Jesus we, the sons of God, have found comfort and joy; while we can truly say, “As our afflictions abound, so our consolations also abound by Christ.” ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm