Character of Jesus

Patience with Confidence

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

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. – James 5:7

A godly farmer waits with patience because he knows God’s covenant. God has said, “Seed time and harvest, summer and winter, shall not cease,” and the Christian farmer, knowing this, is confident. Oh, what strong confidences have we who have looked to Christ, and who are resting on the faithful word of a covenant God! He cannot fail us; it is not possible that He should allow our faith to be confounded. “Heaven and earth may pass away,” and they shall, but His Word shall not fail! They who sow in faith shall reap abundantly; the glory shall be theirs. And, brother workers, if we do not, for a time, see all the results we expect, yet the Lord has said, “Surely all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” The day must come when the dwellers in the wilderness shall bow before Him and lick the dust. “He has set His King upon His holy hill of Zion,” and they who said, “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords from us,” will have to submit themselves, and lick the dust at His feet! Have courage, therefore; the covenant stands good, the harvest must come as surely as the seed time has come.

Let us cheerfully resign ourselves to the Lord’s will in suffering, for as others of His saints who went before us have reaped His blessing, so shall we! Let us work on for our Lord and Master, knowing that apostles and confessors, and a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before have seen great results, and so shall we; let us patiently tarry till the Lord comes, for as in the first coming those who waited for Him rejoiced, so shall those who are found watching and waiting at His second advent. We have not only the promise of God, but that promise fulfilled to tens of thousands who have preceded us! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1025.cfm

Our Labor and Reward

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

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. – 1 Corinthians 15:58

There are great blessings connected with patient endurance…Christian workers, you must work for results, for, though conversion is the work of God, it is in many cases as clearly a product of the holy living, the devout teaching, and the fervent praying of His servants, as anything can be the result from a cause! Go on, go on, and may you have real conversions; not pretended conversions; not such as are sometimes chronicled in newspapers—“Fifty-one conversions of an evening”—as if anybody knew! May there be real conversions, and ripe fruits for Jesus in the growth and advance of those who are converted and may many of them turn out to be such fruit-bearing Christians when they are matured in grace, that the richest result in the prosperity of the church may come to you from all your work!

In this world, look not for a reward; you may have a grateful acknowledgment in the peace, and quiet and contentment of your own spirit, but do not expect even that from your fellow men! The pure motive of any man who serves his generation well is generally misrepresented; as a rule, the lounger looks on at the laborer not to praise, but to blame him, not to cheer him, but to chide him. The less he does, the less he will be open to rebuke, and the more he does, oftentimes, and the more vigorously, the more he shall be upbraided! Look not for your reward here. Suppose men praise you; what is their praise worth? It would not fill your nostrils if you were about to die! The approval of those who have neither skill nor taste; what pleasure can it afford the artist? Should one stoop for it, or, having it, lift his head the higher? Our reward is the approval of God, which He will give of His abundant grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1025.cfm

Have Patience Despite the Changes

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

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. – Galatians 6:9

The farmer waits under changing circumstances, and various contingences. At one time he sees the fair prospect of a good crop; the wheat has come up well; he has never seen greener springing from the ground! But perhaps it may be too strong and may need even to be put back. By-and-by, after long showers and cold nights, the wheat looks yellow, and he is half afraid about it; in a while there comes, or he fancies there is blight, or a black smut; nobody knows what may happen! Only a farmer knows how his hopes and fears alternate and fluctuate from time to time. It is too hot, too cold; it is too dry; it is too wet. It is hardly ever quite right, according to his judgment, or rather according to his unbelief. He is full of changes in his mind because the season is full of changes; yet he waits, and he waits with patience. Ah dear friends, when we work for God, how often will this happen! I speak from no inconsiderable experience; there are always changes in the field of Christian labor. At one time we see many conversions, and we bless God that there are so many seals to our testimony. But some of the converts after a while disappoint us; there was the blossom, but it produced no fruit; then there will come a season when many appear to backslide; the love of many waxes cold. Perhaps we have found in the church the black smut of heresy; some deadly heresy creeps in, and the anxious farmer fears there will be no harvest after all. Oh, patience, sir, patience!

So, too, maybe, O evangelical worker, it will be with you. When God shall give you a rich return for all you have done for Him, you will blush to think you ever doubted; you will be ashamed to think you ever grew weary in His service; you shall have your reward. Not tomorrow, so wait; not the next day perhaps, so be patient. You may be full of doubts one day, your joys sink low. It may be rough windy weather with you in your spirit; you may even doubt whether you are the Lord’s, but if you have rested in the name of Jesus; if by the grace of God you are what you are; if He is all your salvation, and all your desire—have patience, have patience, for the reward will surely come in God’s good time! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1025.cfm

Hastening the Coming of Our Lord

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

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. – James 5:7,8

While the farmer waits with his eyes upward, he waits with his hands at work, engaged in restless toil. He sows, and it is a busy time; when he sees the green blade, what then? He has to work! Yes, the farmer waits; he cannot push on the months; he cannot hasten the time of the harvest home, but he does not wait in silence, in sluggishness and negligence; he keeps to his work and waits. So do you, O Christian! Wait for the coming of your Lord, but let it be with your lamps trimmed, and your lights burning, as good servants attending to the duties of the house, until the Master of the house returns to give you the reward!

The keys of the rain clouds which water the earth hang at the belt of Jehovah. None but the eternal Father can send the Holy Spirit like showers on the church; only He can send the Comforter, and my labor will prosper; it will not be in vain in the Lord. But if He denies—if He withholds this covenant blessing, ah me, work is useless, patience is worthless, and all the cost is in vain. In spiritual, as in temporal things, “It is vain to rise up early and sit up late and eat the bread of carefulness.” “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” We must have the dew, O God, or else our seed shall rot under the clods; we must wait, and wait with our eyes upwards, or else our expectation will perish as a still-born child! So with regard to the comfort, and joy, and ultimate fruit of our faith, we must have our eyes upward looking for the coming of the Lord from heaven, for the day of His appearing will be the day of our manifestation! Our life is hid with Christ, but when He shall appear, we shall appear with Him; when He shall be revealed in glory before the eyes of the assembled multitude, we shall be conspicuous in glory! Not until then shall the fullness of the reward be bestowed, but the risen saints shall be glorified in the glorification of their coming Lord. Oh, for more of this living with the eyes upward, less minding of earthly things, and more looking for, and hastening unto the coming of the Son of God! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1025.cfm

Have Long Patience

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

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. – James 5:7

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, our waiting, if it is the work of the Holy Spirit, must have this long patience in it. Are you a sufferer? There are sweet fruits to come from suffering! “Not for the present seems it to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby.” Have long patience for those peaceable fruits; you shall be brought out of your trouble, deliverance will be found for you out of your affliction when the discipline for which you were brought into it has been fulfilled. Have a lot of patience however, for not the first month does the farmer find a harvest. If he has sown in the winter, he does not expect he will reap in the early spring; he does not go forth with his sickle in the month of May and expect to find golden sheaves. He waits. The moons wax and wane; suns rise and set; but the farmer waits until the appointed time is come. Truth, like the grain of mustard seed, does not wax into a tree tomorrow, being sown today—it takes its time. Or, like the leaven in the measure, it does not work in the next moment; it must have its time. If you have some principle to teach that is now obnoxious, go on with it; perhaps you may never see it popular in your day, but do not mind the fickle winds, or fret yourself because of the nipping frosts. The truth of God is mighty, and it will prevail, though it may have a hard fight before it wins the victory! Wait O sufferer, until the night is over! Watch after watch, you have already passed through; the morning breaks; tarry you a little longer, for if the vision tarries it shall come. “You shall stand in your lot in the end of the days.” Before long you shall have a happy exit out of your present trials! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1025.cfm

Sowing the Seed, Patiently Waiting for the Fruit, and Finally Reaping the Harvest

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

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. – James 5:7-8

(The farmer) waits with a reasonable hope for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it until he receives the early and latter rain. He expects the harvest because he has plowed the fields and sown the grain; if he had not, he would not be an example for our imitation; had he left his fields fallow, never stirred the clods, and never cast in among them the golden seed, he would be an idiot if he were expecting the soil to produce a harvest by itself! Away with the folly of those who flatter their souls with a prospect of good things in times to come while they neglect the opportunity of sowing good things in the time present! They say they hope it will be well with them at the end—but since it is not well with them now, why should they expect any change—much less a change contrary to the entire order of providence? Is it not written, “He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption”? Do you expect to sow to the flesh and reap salvation? That is a blessing reserved for him who sows to the Spirit, for he who sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. As for the man who scatters nothing but the wild oats of sin; that simply lives to indulge his own passions and determinately resolves to neglect the things that make for his peace; he can but upbraid himself if he expects to reap anything good of the Lord. They who sow to the wind shall reap the whirlwind; they who sow nothing shall reap nothing; they who sow sparingly shall reap sparingly. If you are a believer, to you shall be the promise; you shall share the victories and spoils of your Lord. If you are a careless, godless worldling, to you shall eat the fruit of your deeds, and sad and bitter shall be those grapes of Gomorrah that you shall have to eat. The farmer waits with a reasonable hope; he does not look for grain where he has cast in garlic. Unless you are a fool, you will, like he, count only on the fruit of your own sowing. While he waits with a patient hope, he is, no doubt, all the more patient of the issue, because his hope is so reasonable, and not only does he wait with patience, but some stress is put upon the length of it— “And has long patience for the precious fruit of the earth.” …It is only those who by God’s grace have been enabled to sow abundantly, though they have gone forth weeping, who shall afterwards come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1025.cfm

By this Divine Remedy

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

…with His stripes we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5

By this Divine remedy our life is healed of its rebellion. This medicine has worked within the heart, and it has also worked outside in the life. Now has the drunk become sober and he hates the cup he used to love. Now has the swearer’s foul mouth been washed and his lips, once so polluted, are like lilies dropping sweet, smelling myrrh. Now has the cruel and unkind one becomes tender, gentle and loving—the false has become true, the proud bends his neck in humility, the idle has become a diligent servant of Christ! The transformation is wonderful and this is the secret, “With His stripes we are healed.”

Yet again, our consciousness assures us that we are healed. We know that we are healed, and we rejoice in the fact— and we are not to be argued out of it. There seems to be a theory, held by some people, to the effect that we cannot tell whether we are saved or not. When we have had a disease in our body, we can tell whether we have been healed or not, and the marks and evidence of the supernatural change that takes place within the spirit are as apparent, as a usual rule, and certainly as positive and sure as the changes worked in the body by healing medicine! We know that we are healed. I am not talking to you of a thing which I do not know personally for myself. When the text says, “We,” my heart says, “I,” and I am longing that everybody here should be able to put his own seal to it and say, “That is true! With His stripes we are healed! With His stripes we are healed! With His stripes we are healed!” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2499.cfm