Christian Life

Our Shepherd King

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

And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God… – Micah 5:4

Notice that His reign is shepherd-like in its nature. The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, but our Master washed His disciples’ feet. Earthly monarchs are often tyrants; their yoke is heavy, and their language domineering; but it is not so with our King; His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, for He is meek and lowly of heart. He is a shepherd-king; He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over His needy and loving flock. He commands and receives obedience, but it is the willing obedience of the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully to their beloved Shepherd, whose voice they know so well. He rules by the force of love and the energy of goodness. His power lies not in imperious threatenings, but in imperial lovingkindness. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, for “men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.” Never people had such a king before. His service is perfect freedom; to be His subject is to be a king; to serve Him is to reign. Blessed are the people who are the sheep of His pasture; if they follow in His footsteps their road is safe; if they sleep at His feet no lion can disturb their peace; if they are fed from His hand they shall lie down in green pastures and know no lack; if they abide close to His person they shall drink of rivers of delight. Righteousness and peace are the stability of His throne; joy and gladness are the ornaments of His reign. Oh! how happy are we who belong to such a prince. Thou King in Jeshurun, we pay Thee homage with loyal hearts; we come into Thy presence with thanksgiving and into Thy courts with praise for Thou art our God, and we are the people of Thy pasture and the sheep of Thy hand. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0560.cfm

Sorrow at His Cross but Worship at His Throne

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

“And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.”-Micah 5:4.

You have a very vivid idea of the sufferings of Christ. Your faith has seen Him sweating great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. You have looked on with amazement while He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them who plucked off the hair, and hid not His face from shame and spitting. With sorrowful sympathy you have followed Him through the streets of Jerusalem, weeping and bewailing Him with the women. You have sat down to watch Him when He was fastened to the tree; yon have wept at His bitter complaint-“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” and you have rejoiced in His shout of victory-“It is finished!” With Magdalene and Nicodemus, you have followed His dead body to the tomb, and seen it wrapped about with spices, and left to its lonely sleep. Are your perceptions quite as keen concerning the glory which did follow and is following? Can you see Him quite as distinctly when on the third morn the Conqueror rises, bursting the bonds of death with which He could not be holden? Can yon as clearly view Him ascending up on high, leading captivity captive? Can you hear the ring of angelic clarions, as with dyed garments from Bozrah the Victor returns from the battle, dragging death and hell at His chariot wheels? Do you plainly perceive Him as He takes His seat at the right hand of the Father, henceforth expecting until His enemies be made His footstool? And can you be as clear about the reigning Christ as you have been about the suffering Christ? Behold Him, my brethren, in His present plenitude of glory, and endeavor to get as clear a perception of it as you have had of His shame. Not only weep at His burial, but rejoice at His resurrection; not only sorrow at His cross, but worship at His throne. Do not merely think of the nails and of the spear but behold the imperial purple which hangs so nobly upon His royal shoulders, and of the divine crown which He wears upon His majestic brow. “He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0560.cfm

The Gate of Glory is Not Yet Closed

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” – John 3:36

Will you take a little time alone, perhaps this evening — get a paper and pencil, and after you have honestly and fairly thought on your own spiritual state, and weighed your own condition before the Lord, will you write down one of these two words?

If you feel that you are not a believer, write down this word, “Condemned!”

And if you are a believer in Jesus, and put your trust in Him alone, write down the word, “Forgiven!”

Do it, even though you have to write down the word condemned.

We lately received into Church-fellowship a young man, who said — Sir, I wrote down the word condemned, and I looked at it. There it was, I had written it myself — “Condemned!” As he looked the tears began to flow, and his heart began to break; and before long he fled to Christ, put that paper in the fire, and wrote down on another paper, “Forgiven!”

Remember you are either one or the other — you are either condemned or forgiven. Do not stand between the two. Let it be decided, and remember that if you are condemned today, yet you are not in Hell. There is hope yet! Blessed be God, still is Christ lifted up, and whoever believes on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. The gate of glory is not closed; the proclamation of mercy is not hushed; the Spirit of God still goes forth to open blind eyes and to unstop deaf ears, and still is it preached to you, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)

Believe. May God help you to believe. Trust Jesus — trust Him now! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Trust the Lord Jesus and Be Saved

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life 1 Comment

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. – 1 Corinthians 15:19

“What will become of you?” said an infidel once to a Christian man, “supposing there should be no heaven?” “Well,” said he, “I like to have two strings to my bow. If there be no hereafter I am as well off as you are, and if there be I am infinitely better off. But where are you? Where are you?” Why then we must read this text in the future (tense)-“If in this life there be indeed a hope of a life to come, then you shall be in the next life of all men most miserable.” Do you see where you will be? Your soul goes before the great Judge and receives its condemnation and begins its hell. The trumpet rings; heaven and earth are astonished; the grave heaves; yonder slab of marble is lifted up, and up you rise in that very flesh and blood in which you sinned, and there you stand in the midst of a terrified multitude, all gathered to their doom. The Judge has come. The great assize has commenced. There on the great white throne sits the Savior who once said, “Come unto Me, ye weary, and I will give you rest;” but now He sits there as a Judge and opens with stern hand the terrible volume. Page after page He reads, and as He reads, He gives the signal, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,” and the angels bind up the tares in bundles to burn them. There stand you, and you know your doom; you already begin to feel it. 

O that ye would be wise and consider your latter end! O that ye would reflect that this life is but a span, and the life to come lasts on for ever!..Look to the bleeding Savior; see there His five wounds, and His face bedewed with bloody sweat! Trust Him, trust him, and you are saved. The moment that you trust Him your sins are gone. His righteousness is yours; you are saved on the spot, and you shall be saved when He cometh in His kingdom to raise the dead from their graves. O that the Lord might lead us all thus to rest on Jesus, now and ever. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

A Hope Beyond the Grave

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time…and in the world to come eternal life. – Mark 10:30

To speak against preaching the future as though it would make people neglect the present is absurd. It is as though somebody should say, “There, take away the moon, and blot out the sun. What is the use of them-they are not in this world?” Precisely so but take away the moon and you have removed the tides, and the sea becomes a stagnant, putrid pool. Then take away the sun, and light, and heat, and life; everything is gone. What the sun and moon are to this natural world, the hope of the future is to the Christian in this world. It is his light; he looks upon all things in that light and sees them truly. It is his heat; it gives him zeal and energy. It is his very life: his Christianity, his virtue would expire if it were not for the hope of the world to come. Do you believe, my brethren, that apostles and martyrs would ever have sacrificed their lives for truth’s sake if they had not looked for a hereafter? In the heat of excitement, the soldier may die for honor, but to die in tortures and mockeries in cold blood needs a hope beyond the grave. Would yon poor man go toiling on year after year, refusing to sacrifice his conscience for gain; would yon poor needle-girl refuse to become the slave of lust if she did not see something brighter than earth can picture to her as the reward of sin? O my brethren, the most practical thing in all the world is the hope of the world to come, for it is just this which keeps us from being miserable; and to keep a man from being miserable, let me say, is to do a great thing for him…The man who has a hope of the next world goes about his work strong, for “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” Through the Spirit of God, the hope of another world is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joy; it is the very channel of usefulness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

The Music to which Christians Dance

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

If we suffer (with Him), we shall also reign with Him… – 2 Timothy 2:12

With all God’s people their worst grief is sin. I would not care for any sorrow, if I could live without sinning. Oh! if I were rid of the appetites of the flesh and the lusts thereof, and the desires which continually go astray, I would be satisfied to lie in a dungeon and rot there, so as to be delivered from the corruption of sin. Well, brethren, we shall soon attain unto perfection. The body of this death will die with this body. There is no temptation in heaven, for the dog of hell can never cross the stream of death; there are no corruptions there, for they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; there shall by no means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth. Methinks as I hear the joyous song of the glorified, as I catch floating down from heaven the sound of that music which is like many waters and like the great thunder, and as I hear the harmony of those notes which are sweet as harpers harping with their harps, my soul desireth to stretch her wings, and fly straight to yonder worlds of joy. I know it is so with you, my brethren in the tribulation of Christ. As you wipe the sweat off your brow, is not this the comfort: “…there is rest for the people of God.” As you stand out against temptation and suffer for Christ’s sake, is not this your comfort: ” If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.” When you are slandered and despised by men, is not this your hope: “He will remember me when He cometh into His kingdom. I shall sit upon His throne, even as He has overcome, and sitteth down upon His Father’s throne.” Oh! yes, this is the music to which Christians dance; this is the wine which maketh glad their hearts; this is the banquet at which they feast. There is another and a better land, and we, though we sleep with the clods of the valley, shall in our flesh see God, when our Redeemer shall stand in the latter days upon the earth. Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainstay of our joy. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

A Rest for the People of God.

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

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. – Hebrews 4:9

Oh! happy truth, there remaineth a rest for the people of God. ” They rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” Others of you are always in the field of battle; you are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that you have little or no peace. I know where your hope lies. It lies in the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft, and the sword shall be sheathed, and you shall hear your Captain say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast fought a good fight; thou hast finished thy course: henceforth wear thou the crown of life which fadeth not away.” Some of you are tossed about with many troubles; you go from care to care, from loss to loss: it seems to you as if all God’s waves and billows had gone over you; but you shall soon arrive at the land of happiness, where you shall bathe your weary soul in seas of heavenly rest, You shall have no poverty soon; no mud-hovel, no rags, nor hunger. “In My Father’s house are many mansions,” and there shall you dwell, satisfied with favor, and full of every blessing. You have had bereavement after bereavement; the wife has been carried to the tomb, the children have followed, father and mother are gone, and you have few left to love you here; but you are going to the land where graves are unknown things, where they never see a shroud, and the sound of the mattock and the spade are never heard; you are going to your Father’s house in the land of the immortal, in the country of the hereafter, in the home of the blessed, in the habitation of God Most High, in the Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all. Is not this your best joy, that you are not to be here for ever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm