Character of Jesus

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

Remembering Christ After the Spirit

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

Therefore from now on know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet from now on know we Him no more. -2 Corinthians 5:16

(S)ome will say, “How can we remember Christ’s person, when we never saw it? We cannot tell what was the peculiar form of His visage; we believe His countenance to be fairer than that of any other man-although through grief and suffering more marred-but since we did not see it, we cannot remember it. We never saw His feet as they trod the journeys of His mercy; we never beheld His hands as He stretched them out full of lovingkindness; we cannot remember the wondrous intonation of His language, when in more than seraphic eloquence He awed the multitude, and chained their ears to Him; we cannot picture the sweet smile that ever hung on His lips, nor that awful frown with which He dealt out anathemas against the Pharisees; we cannot remember Him in His sufferings and agonies, for we never saw Him.” Well, beloved, I suppose it is true that you cannot remember the visible appearance, for you were not then born; but do you not know that even the apostle said, though he had known Christ after the flesh, yet, thenceforth after the flesh he would know Christ no more. The natural appearance, the race, the descent, the poverty, the humble garb, were nothing in the apostle’s estimation of his glorified Lord. And thus, though you do not know Him after the flesh, you may know Him after the spirit; in this manner you can remember Jesus as much now as Peter, or Paul, or John, or James, or any of those favoured ones who once trod in His footsteps, walked side by side with Him, or laid their heads upon His bosom. Memory annihilates distance and over leapeth time, and can behold the Lord, though He be exalted in glory. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Can It Be Possible?

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

“This do in remembrance of Me.”- 1 Corinthians 11:24

It appears almost impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood of the dying Lamb should ever forget their Ransomer; that those who have been loved with an everlasting love by the eternal Son of God, should ever forget that Son; but if startling to the ear, it is alas, too apparent to the eye to allow us to deny the fact. Forget Him who ne’er forgot us! Forget Him who poured His blood forth for our sins! Forget Him who loved us even to the death! Can it be possible? Yes it is not only possible, but conscience confesses that it is too sadly a fault of all of us, that we can remember anything except Christ. The object which we should make the monarch of our hearts, is the very thing we are most inclined to forget. Where one would think that memory would linger, and unmindfulness would be an unknown intruder, that is the spot which is desecrated by the feet of forgetfulness, and that the place where memory too seldom looks. I appeal to the conscience of every Christian here: Can you deny the truth of what I utter? Do you not find yourselves forgetful of Jesus? Some creature steals away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom your affection ought to be set. Some earthly business engrosses your attention when you should have your eye steadily fixed upon the cross. It is the incessant round of world, world, world; the constant din of earth, earth, earth, that takes away the soul from Christ. Oh! my friends, is it not too sadly true that we can recollect anything but Christ, and forget nothing so easy as Him whom we ought to remember? While memory will preserve a poisoned weed, it suffereth the Rose of Sharon to wither. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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