Christian Life

Rejoice! He Will Fulfill His Promise

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

And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. – 1 John 2:25

Praise the Lord for all the good things He has laid up in store for you; take upon your lips the words of that sweet singer who wrote,-

“And a ‘new song’ is in my mouth,
To long-loved music set;-
Glory to Thee for all the grace
I have not tasted yet.”

When you are ill, bless God for the health you will enjoy when you get well. When you are down-hearted, bless God for the joy that you will have when He shall again lift up the light of His countenance upon you. When you go to the grave of a Christian friend, bless God because you will meet that friend again. Though you cannot yet see the joys that await you inside the gates of pearl, begin to bless the Lord for all that He has prepared for them that love Him. Borrow from the eternal future; you may, for there is plenty of it. There is an infinity of joy; therefore, antedate it a little while. Send your messengers across the Jordan to bring you some of the Eshcol clusters. You may do so, for they are yours, and you may have some of them, even now, as foretastes of the bliss that is yet to be revealed. “God hath spoken” to His servants of the great things that He will do for them for many years to come, and throughout eternity. He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” He hath said, “Where I am, there shall also My servant be.” Therefore, as God hath spoken, though as yet my soul abideth in the land of darkness, and drought, and barrenness, yet, because He will fulfill His promise, my heart shall rejoice. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

Faith’s Joy

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

God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice… – Psalm 108:7

Are any of you heavy of heart just now? If so, I hope you will catch the spirit of David when he uttered these words. You ought to be glad that “God hath spoken in His holiness,” and you must be glad if you feel and know that He has spoken to you. “God hath spoken: I will rejoice.”

Observe that this joy, which faith has, is a joy in the very fact that God hath spoken. Though nothing may yet have been done for us, God hath spoken, and therefore our heart rejoices. Every divine promise, if it be rightly viewed by faith, will make the heart leap for joy. Suppose you do not need that particular promise just now, rejoice all the same, for you will need it by-and-by. If the promise is not made specially to you, yet it is made to somebody; therefore, rejoice that “God hath spoken” so as to meet the needs of somebody else’s case. What if the blessing be too high for you to reach at present? Nevertheless, rejoice that there are mercies stored up for future and more advanced stages of your spiritual growth. And suppose the mercy is one that you long ago enjoyed; still be glad that you did enjoy it in years past, and so rejoice that “God hath spoken.” Oh, what hymns of praise there are in this blessed Book, if this be the theme of our song, “God hath spoken”! Then, the very first pages of Genesis ought to make us rejoice, and we will rejoice because we know how He made the worlds. Pass along through every page and feast your eyes upon every line of every page, and say all the while, “‘God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice.’ This shall be the subject of my joy all the day long; and, in the night watches, will I rejoice in His Word.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

How Can It Be Done?

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

God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice… – Psalm 108:7

It sometimes happens that our greatest difficulty in believing a promise of God lies in His holiness. There is, for instance, a promise of pardon to the soul that believeth in Jesus. We think of stern justice, with her majestic yet severe look. In our heart of hearts, we reverence her, and we ask, “How can God be just, and yet the Justifier of the ungodly…Can this holy God really mean to receive such sinners as we are whose very clothes, as Job says, do abhor us? Can He purpose to bring us to His own right hand in glory that we may be among the courtiers in His heavenly kingdom?” Yes, He does mean to do even that; yet the thought of His purity makes us wonder how it can be done.

(God) knew all that David was, and all that David would be; yet He saw it to be consistent with His infinite perfections to make, even with such a man, “an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure;” and, beloved brethren, when the Lord entered into covenant with Christ concerning those whom He gave to Him to be His portion forever, and when, in that covenant, He wrote down blessings exceedingly great and precious, and made promises so vast that we cannot at present form any estimate of their full value, He knew quite well what He was doing, and He did it, knowing all about your doubts and fears concerning your sinfulness and His own holiness. And now, without in the least marring His perfect purity, and inflexible justice, “God hath spoken in His holiness” to poor lost sinners and said that He will save all of them who trust in Jesus Christ, His Son; and He has also “spoken in His holiness” to His poor imperfect children, and said that He will bless them, and that He will not turn away from them to do them good. This is the covenant that He hath made with His people: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.” All this, which “God hath spoken in His holiness,” He will do without obscuring that wondrous attribute, or marring the glory of His adorable perfections. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

This is Our Joy, that God Hath Spoken

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

God hath spoken in His holiness… – Psalm 108:7

“God hath spoken in His holiness;” and we ought to be thankful that we have not to serve a God who is dumb. He spake in the garden of Eden when our first parents sinned against Him. To the serpent He said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” It was a message of hope to the world when God spake that great promise concerning His Son. Since then, “at sundry times and in divers manners,” God hath spoken unto men by His servants, and “by His Son,” of which we have the record in this blessed Book; and, since it is a message of mercy and love to us, we ought at once to rejoice that “God hath spoken.” Sinner, you are pleading with God for mercy; and He might well refuse to answer you even a word; but “God hath spoken” already, and the answer to your petition is already recorded in His Word. If, when Adam sinned, He had turned away from our rebellious race, and said, “Henceforward, I will hold no communication with you until that day when, with fire and sword, I punish you for your many transgressions;” we should have had no cause for complaining against Him; certainly, we could not have impeached His justice, or found fault with His severity. But “God hath spoken;” He hath broken the silence which would have been death to us; and, blessed be His name, He hath divinely spoken to us by Him who is THE WORD OF GOD -by God’s great logos -the only voice by which He could fully speak out His whole soul so that men might be able to comprehend Him; and it is upon what God hath spoken unto us, by His Son, that we have to place our faith; so that, had He not spoken, we should not have had any foundation for our faith; but this is our joy, that “God hath spoken.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

Prayers Already Answered

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Father 1 Comment

…save with Thy right hand and answer me. – Psalm 108:6

There is an old promise, concerning God’s people, which says, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” This text is one of the instances in which the Lord has dealt with His saints upon the lines of that promise. David prays, “Save with Thy right hand, and answer me;” and while he is waiting for God to answer him, he remembers that God has already spoken. In effect, he says to himself, “I am waiting for an answer, but God has given it to me.” Very often, the response to a believer’s petition has been practically received before he presents his request, and he only needs that God should open his eyes for him to see that, before he called, God had answered his supplication. Indeed, brethren and sisters in Christ, in one sense, all your prayers, that is, your prayers that ought to be answered, are already answered; for, whatsoever there may be that you may rightly ask of God, you really have it, since, in giving us Christ, He has already given us all things. An important part of the duty of faith is to believe that you have what you ask in prayer, and then you shall have it. This is blessed philosophy; may we all learn it! Oftentimes, when we are crying to God, and waiting for an answer to our petition, if we did but look around us, and if we had more acute powers of observation-if our spiritual faculties were keener and quicker, we should perceive that we already have the very thing for which we are asking. Some of you have, perhaps, been saying, “Oh, that we were indeed the Lord’s people, who have their prayers answered even before they offer them!” Well, then, turn to the Book, and you will find that the Lord has there told you that you are His if, indeed, you are believing in His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God has given you, by that most sure word of testimony, the clearest possible evidence of your personal interest in Christ already. If you are asking for some further kind assuring word, to soothe your fears to rest, turn to the Bible, for there is in it the very word you need. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

Gladly Yoked with Christ

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

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. – Matthew 11:29, 30

I do not know whether I am right, but it struck me, when considering this text from various points, that probably our Saviour meant to convey an idea of deeper fellowship than we have yet considered. Did not He mean this- that He carried a yoke on His shoulder, which He calls, “My yoke?” When bullocks are yoked, there are generally two. I have watched them in Northern Italy, and noticed that when two are yoked together, and they are perfectly agreed, the yoke is always easy to both of them. If one were determined to lie down and the other to stand up, the yoke would be very uncomfortable; but when they are both of one mind you will see them look at each other with those large, lustrous, brown eyes of theirs so lovingly, and with a look they read each other’s minds, so that when one wants to lie down, down they go, or when one wishes to go forward, forward they both go, keeping step. In this way the yoke is easy. Now I think the Saviour says to us, “I am bearing one end of the yoke on My shoulder; come, My disciple, place your neck under the other side of it, and then learn of Me. Keep step with Me, be as I am, do as I do. I am meek and lowly in heart; your heart must be like Mine, and then we will work together in blessed fellowship, and you will find that working with Me is a happy thing; for My yoke is easy to Me and will be to you. Come, then, true yoke-fellow, come and be yoked with Me, take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.” If that be the meaning of the text, and perhaps it is, it invites us to a fellowship most near and honorable. If it be not the meaning of the text, it is at any rate a position to be sought after, to be laborers together with Christ, bearing the same yoke. Such be our lot. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0969.cfm

Immovable Rest

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

…and ye shall find rest unto your souls. – Matthew 11:29

My dear brethren, if you find rest to your souls you will not be moved by the judgment of men. The children in the market-place were the type of our Lord’s generation, who railed both at John the Baptist and at our Lord. The generation which now is follows the same course, men are sure to cavil at our service. Never mind; take Christ’s yoke on you, live to serve Him; take Christ’s burden, make it a point to bear all things for His sake, and you will not be affected either by praise or censure, for you will find rest to your souls in surrendering yourself to the Father’s will. If you learn of Jesus you will have rest from the fear of men.

Next you will be delivered from fretfulness at want of success. “Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not.” He had wrought His mighty works, and preached the gospel, and they did not repent. Was Jesus discouraged? Was He, as we sometimes are, ready to quit the work? No; His heart rested even then. If we come to Jesus, and take His yoke and burden, we too shall find rest, though Israel be not gathered.

Learning of Jesus we too shall rest in reference to divine decrees; we shall rejoice in whatever the Lord determines; predestination will not cast a gloom over us, but we shall thank God for all He ordains. What a blessed rest! As we open it up, does not its compass and depth surprise you? How sweet to lie passive in His hands, reconciled to every mystery, content with every dispensation, honored by every service satisfied in God! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0969.cfm