Character of Jesus

A Holy Preparation

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

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 1 Corinthians 11:29

I believe there ought to be a preparation before the Lord’s Supper. I do not believe in Mrs. Toogood’s preparation, who spent a week in preparing, and then finding it was not the Ordinance Sunday, she said she had lost all the week. I do not believe in that kind of preparation, but I do believe in a holy preparation for the Lord’s Supper: when we can on a Saturday if possible, spend an hour in quiet meditation on Christ, and the passion of Jesus; when, especially on the Sabbath afternoon, we can devoutly sit down and behold Him, then these scenes become realities, and not mockeries, as they are to some. I fear greatly that there are some of you who will drink the wine, and not think of His blood: and vile hypocrites you will be while you do it. Take heed to yourselves, “He that eateth and drinketh” unworthily, eateth and drinketh-what?-“damnation to himself.” This is a plain English word; mind what you are doing! Do not do it carelessly; for of all the sacred things on earth, it is the most solemn.  Here you are to drink blood from the veins of Christ, and sip the trickling stream which gushed from His own loving heart. Is not that a solemn thing? Ought anybody to trifle with it? To go to church and take it for sixpence? To come and join us for the sake of getting charities? Out upon it! It is an awful blasphemy against Almighty God; and amongst the damned in hell, those shall be among the most accursed who dared thus to mock the holy ordinance of God. This is the remembrance of Christ. “This do in remembrance of Me.” If you cannot do it in remembrance of Christ, I beseech you, as you love your souls, do not do it at all. Oh! unregenerate man or woman, enter not into the court of the priests, lest Israel’s God resent the intrusion. ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

A Sweet Aid to Memory

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 5 Comments

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. -John 6:51

Behold the whole mystery of the sacred Eucharist. It is bread and wine which are lively emblems of the body and blood of Jesus. The power to excite remembrance consists in the appeal thus made to the senses. Here the eye, the hand, the mouth, find joyful work. The bread is tasted, and entering within, works upon the sense of taste, which is one of the most powerful. The wine is sipped-the act is palpable. We know that we are drinking, and thus the senses, which are usually clogs to the soul, become wings to lift the mind in contemplation. Again, much of the influence of this ordinance is found in its simplicity. How beautifully simple the ceremony is-bread broken and wine poured out. There is no calling that thing a chalice, that thing a paten, and that a host. Here is nothing to burden the memory-here is the simple bread and wine. He must have no memory at all who cannot remember that he has eaten bread, and that he has been drinking wine. Note again, the mighty pregnancy of these signs-how full they are of meaning. Bread broken-so was your Saviour broken. Bread to be eaten-so His flesh is meat indeed. Wine poured out, the pressed juice of the grape-so was your Saviour crushed under the foot of divine justice: His blood is your sweetest wine. Wine to cheer your heart-so does the blood of Jesus. Wine to strengthen and invigorate you-so does the blood of the mighty sacrifice. Oh! make that bread and wine to your souls a sweet and blessed help of remembrance of that dear Man who once on Calvary died. Like the little ewe lamb, you are now to eat your Master’s bread and drink from His cup. Remember the hand which feeds you. ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

Weathering the Storm

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. -Mark 4:39

I believe that there are hours with every man, when he has a season of terrific temptation. There was never a vessel that lived upon the mighty deep but sometimes it had to do battle with a storm. There she is, the poor barque, rocked up and down on the mad waves. See how they throw her from wave to wave, and toss her to mid heaven. The winds laugh her to scorn. Old Ocean takes the ship in his dripping fingers, and shakes it to and fro. How the mariners cry out for fear! Do you know how you can put oil upon the waters, and all shall be still? Yes. One potent word shall do it. Let Jesus come; let the poor heart remember Jesus, and steadily then the ship shall sail, for Christ has the helm. The winds shall blow no more, for Christ shall bid them shut their mighty mouths, and never again disturb His child. There is nothing which can give you strength in temptation, and help you to weather the storm, like the name of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. Then again, what comfort it will give you on a sick bed-the name of Christ! It will help you to be patient to those who wait upon you, and to endure the sufferings which you have to bear; yea, it shall be so with you, that you shall have more hope in sickness than in health, and shall find a blessed sweetness in the bitterness of gall. Instead of feeling vinegar in your mouth, through your trouble, you shall find honey for sweetness, in the midst of all the trial and trouble that God will put upon you, “For He giveth songs in the night.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

For Great is Your Reward in Heaven

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

If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. -John 15:20

“I cannot stand it any longer; I have been persecuted and ill-treated, because I love Christ; I am mocked, and laughed at, and despised: I try to bear it, but I really cannot. A man will be a man; tread upon a worm and he will turn upon you; my patience altogether fails me; I am in such a peculiar position that it is of no use to advise me to have patience, for patience I cannot have; my enemies are slandering me, and I do not know what to do.”

What shall we say to that poor man? How shall we give him patience? What shall we preach to him? You have heard what he has to say about himself. How shall we comfort him under this great trial? If we suffered the same, what should we wish some friend to say to us? Shall we tell him that other persons have borne as much? He will say, “Miserable comforters are ye all!” No, I will tell him, “Brother, you are persecuted; but remember the words of Jesus Christ, how He spake unto us, and said, ‘Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.” My brother! think of Him, who, when He died, prayed for His murderers, and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” All you have to bear, is as nothing compared with His mighty sufferings. Take courage; face it again like a man; never say die. Let not your patience be gone; take up your cross daily, and follow Christ. Let Him be your motto; set Him before your eyes. And, now, receiving this, hear what the man will say. He tells you at once-“Hail, persecution; welcome shame. Disgrace for Jesus shall be my honor, and scorn shall be my highest glory.

“‘Now, for the love I bear His name,
What was my gain I count my loss,
I pour contempt on all my shame,
And nail my glory to His cross.'”

~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

For the Creature’s Sake He Loves

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

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

Love never says, “Cui bono?” Love never asks what benefit it will derive from love. Love from its very nature is a disinterested thing. It loves; for the creature’s sake it loves, and for nothing else.

Remembrance of Jesus will tend to give you hope when you are under the burden of your sins… There comes in a poor creature. Look at him! He has neglected himself this last month; he looks as if he had hardly eaten his daily bread. What is the matter with you? “Oh!” says he, “I have been under a sense of guilt; I have been again and again lamenting, because I fear I can never be forgiven; once I thought I was good, but I have been reading the Bible, and I find that my heart is ‘deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;’ I have tried to reform, but the more I try, the deeper I sink in the mire, there is certainly no hope for me. I feel that I deserve no mercy; it seems to me that God must destroy me, for He has declared, ‘The soul that sinneth it shall die;’ and die I must, be damned I must, for I know I have broken God’s law.” How will you comfort such a man? What soft words will you utter to give him peace? I know! I will tell thee that there is one, who for thee hath made a complete atonement; if thou only believest on Him thou art safe for ever. Remember Him, thou poor dying, hopeless creature, and thou shalt be made to sing for joy and gladness. See, the man believes, and in ecstasy exclaims, “Oh! come all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what He hath done for my soul.”

“Tell it unto sinners, tell,
I am, I am out of hell.”

~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

Let Us Never Forget Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, salvation 5 Comments

And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. -Luke 22:44

I cannot help remembering Thee, when I think of those years of toil and trouble which Thou didst live for my sake. But you know my chosen theme-the place where I can always best remember Christ. It is a shady garden full of olives. O that spot! I would that I had eloquence, that I might take you there. Oh! if the Spirit would but take us, and set us down hard by the mountains of Jerusalem, I would say, see there runs the brook of Kedron, which the king himself did pass; and there you see the olive trees. Possibly, at the foot of that olive, lay the three disciples when they slept; and there, ah! there, I see drops of blood. Stand here, my soul, a moment; those drops of blood-dost thou behold them? Mark them; they are not the blood of wounds; they are the blood of a man whose body was then unwounded. O my soul picture Him when He knelt down in agony and sweat,-sweat, because He wrestled with God,-sweat, because He agonized with His Father. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” O Gethsemane! thy shades are deeply solemn to my soul. But ah! those drops of blood! Surely it is the climax of the height of misery; it is the last of the mighty acts of this wondrous sacrifice. Can love go deeper than that? Can it stoop to greater deeds of mercy? Oh! had I eloquence, I would bestow a tongue on every drop of blood that is there; that your hearts might rise in mutiny against your languor and coldness, and speak out with earnest burning remembrance of Jesus.

…Let us never forget Christ. I beseech you, for the love of Jesus, let Him have the chief place in your memories. Let not the pearl of great price be dropped from your careless hand into the dark ocean of oblivion. ~ C.H. Spurgoen

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm

Look to Him Who Conquered Once for All

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life 5 Comments

And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan… -Mark 1:13

Ah! let us spend five minutes in remembering Jesus. Let us remember Him in His baptism, when descending into the waters of Jordan, a voice was heard, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Let us remember Him in the wilderness, whither He went straight from His immersion. Forty days that He fasted, He was an hungered, when in the extremity of His weakness there came the evil spirit. Perhaps he had veiled his demon royalty in the form of some aged pilgrim, and taking up a stone, said, “Way-worn pilgrim, if thou be the Son of God command this stone to be made bread.” Methinks I see him, with his cunning smile, and his malicious leer, as he held the stone, and said, “If,”-blasphemous if,-“If Thou be the Son of God, command that this stone shall become a meal for me and Thee, for both of us are hungry, and it will be an act of mercy; Thou canst do it easily; speak the word, and it shall be like the bread of heaven; we will feed upon it, and Thou and I will be friends for ever.” But Jesus said-and O how sweetly did He say it-“Man shall not live by bread alone.” Oh! how wonderfully did Christ fight the tempter! Never was there such a battle as that. It was a duel foot to foot-a single-handed combat-when the champion lion of the pit, and the mighty Lion of the tribe of Judah, fought together. Splendid sight! Angels stood around to gaze upon the spectacle, just as men of old did sit to see the tournament of noted warriors. There Satan gathered up his strength; here Apollyon concentrated all his satanic power, that in this giant wrestle he might overthrow the Seed of the woman. But Jesus was more than a match for him; in the wrestling He gave him a deadly fall, and came off more than a conqueror. Lamb of God! I will remember Thy desert strivings, when next I combat with Satan. When next I have a conflict with roaring Diabolus, I will look to Him who conquered once for all, and broke the dragon’s head with His mighty blows. ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0002.cfm