Christian Life

Trust the Merciful God

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

The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate. – Psalm 34:22

…when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God… – Romans 1:21

In revelation God has presented Himself as the object of trust to His creatures, and He has promised that all who trust in Him shall be forgiven their transgressions through the atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. Such as trust Him He declares shall be saved; and he sends out a messenger of mercy to all mankind, proclaiming-“He that believeth in Him is not condemned.” He bids sinners come and trust under the shadow of His wing; and He declares that none that come to Him will ever be cast out. Revealing Himself in Christ Jesus, He pleads with guilty men. Asking nothing of them, He entreats them to accept His mercy, which He freely presents to them without money and without price. Making no distinction in the gospel-call, He bids men come to Him, saying, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there is none else.” When proud man replies, “No, I shall trust in myself, trust in my own works, trust in my own prayers, but I shall not trust in Christ,” then he knows God, but he glorifies him not as God, and when he perishes he will be without excuse. What kind of God is that whom we will not trust? How do we honour Him when we refuse to believe Him? Do we accept His Godhead, and yet refuse His mercy? This cannot be. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

He Is God Over All

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life 4 Comments

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. – Philippians 2:13

I lay this charge against many professing Christians-that their God is not the God of the Bible, and that they have no notion of Jehovah, the true God. The one God of heaven and earth is Jehovah-that God who said of old, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Certain professed followers of Jesus will not have this God, but they make to themselves a god who is under some degree of obligation to his sinful creatures, of whom they say that he is bound to treat all alike. These are guilty of robbing Divinity of its most majestic attribute, namely, sovereignty. They are for dictating to the King of kings, and tying the hands of infinite compassion, lest the supreme will of God should have too much liberty. I know of no such God as that: the God I worship can never do other than right, yet is He under no bond to His creatures, but ordereth all things according to the counsel of His own will. I believe that if the Lord had denied me mercy, I had so sinned that I could never have impugned His justice. When I see Him save a sinner, I look not at it as a deed which He was bound to do, but as a spontaneous act, free as the air, full of His own goodness which arises entirely from Himself. “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.” I, for one, am perfectly satisfied with everything that God does, whether of power, justice, or mercy. My heart says, “It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good.”

The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob is the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and in Him my soul delights. Let Him sway His sceptre even as He pleases. His will be done on earth even as it is in heaven. ~ C.H. Spurge on

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Fitly Adore God

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God… – Romans 1:21

Many may be met with who know God, but never glorify Him as God, because they never adore Him, and worship Him, with the love of their hearts. They go to church or to some place of worship regularly, and sing psalms and hymns, and they may even have family-prayer at home; but their heart has never adored the living God with living love. Their worship has a name to live, but it is dead. They present to the Lord all the eternal harvest of worship, but the corn is gone, only the straw and the husk are there. And what is the value of your husky prayers? Your prayers are without a kernel, made up of the straw of words, and the chaff of formality? What is the value of professions of loyalty from a rebel? What is the worth of professed friendship to God when your heart is at enmity against Him? Is it not a mockery of God to present to Him a sacrifice “where not the heart is found”? When the Lord has to say, “They come as My people, and they sit as My people, and they sing as My people, but their heart is far from Me”, can He take any pleasure in them? May not God thus complain of many? Oh, let it not be so with you! Oh, my brethren, if we accept Jehovah as the living God, let us give Him the utmost love of our souls. Will you call a man brother, and then treat him like a dog? Dare you call God your God, and then act towards Him as though He were not worthy of a thought. With what joy does David cry, “I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds”! This is the kind of spirit with which to deal with the Lord. Oh, to rejoice in God all the day, and to make Him our exceeding joy! Thus, and thus only, do we glorify Him as God. Without the fire of love no incense will ever rise from the censer of praise. If we do not delight in God we do not fitly adore God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Every Mercy Brings An Obligation With It

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

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful… – Romans 1:21

Are there not many rich men to whom it never occurs to feel bound to serve the Lord who gave them power to get wealth? Are there not many healthy persons, sound of limb, and strong in constitution, who yet do not praise the God who has kept them from sickness and death? Are any of us sufficiently grateful for our talents, our faculties, our friends, our daily provisions? Do we not all receive a large amount of blessing for which we do not render praise to God? The fact that every mercy brings an obligation with it, and we that receive most ought to render most; for we receive nothing from God without being thereby naturally and of right laid under bonds to return to Him the glory due unto His name. We are tenants, whose rent is to be paid in service and praise. It is a very blessed obligation! It is a happy bond to be bound to praise and bless God! Praise is no more a burden to a true heart than song to a bird, or perfume to a flower, or twinkling to a star. Adoration is no taxation. God’s revenue of glory comes from myriads of free-will offerings, which gracious spirits delight to present to Him all their days. Yet there are some who know God, but they glorify Him not as God: they rob Him of that which it should be their life to bring. They seem to say that they are their own, and not God’s: they may live as they please; they may serve themselves.

God grant us grace to avoid this cruel provocation, and may we glorify God as God by practically owning the obligation under which His mercy places us. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Give Him Thanks

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

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights… – James 1:17

We know God, but I am afraid that there are many thousands and millions of our fellow-creatures who glorify Him not as God; let us see to it that we do not ourselves belong to the unhappy number…Yes, and we have among us men who talk neither of “fortune” nor of “Nature,” but of themselves. They are styled “self-made men,” and they are very prone to worship the great self who made them: they are never backward in that cult. Their adoration of themselves is constant, reverent, and sincere. “Self-made men,” indeed! Infinitely better is it to be a God-made man. If there be anything about us that is worth the having, it must be from Him from whom every good gift and every perfect gift has evermore descended; let us therefore give Him thanks. There is no other sun for our sky than (His) sun in the heavens: there is no other source of good but the ever-blessed God, who has made Himself known to us, whom with all our hearts we now adore.

But may I not be addressing some who, at this moment, do not bow before God, and bless Him for their prosperity? They attribute it to their industry, and to their good luck. Oh, sirs, you come under the head of those who know God, and yet do not glorify Him as God; neither are you thankful. The Lord help such to confess this sin, and may His grace wash them clean of it, for indeed it is a great and heinous sin in the judgment of the Most High. Justice makes a black mark against those who do not ascribe their good things to God, from whom they flow with such sweet constancy of kindness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Take Heed What You Know

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, Sovereignty of God, The Father, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

“So that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful.”- Romans 1:20, 21

There is a knowledge which does not puff up the mind, but builds up the soul, being joined with holy love. Did not our Lord say, “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent”? But for men to know God, and not to glorify Him as God, and to be unthankful, is, according to our text, no benefit to them: on the contrary, it becomes a savour of death unto them, because it leaves them without excuse. Our Saviour could plead for some, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” But what plea is to be used for those who know what they do, and yet do evil; who know what they ought to do, and do it not? A man may by knowing more becomes all the more a devil. His growing information may only increase his condemnation. It is clear, then, that knowledge is not a possession of such unmingled good that we may grow vain of it; better far will it be if the more we know the more we watch and pray. Go on and read, young man. Go on and study with the utmost diligence. The more of knowledge you can acquire the better; but take care that you do not, like Sardanapalus, heap up your treasures to be your own funeral pile. Do not by a rebellious pride curdle the sweet milk of knowledge, and sour your precious blessing into an awful curse. It is soon done, but not so soon undone. It was the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil the eating of which brought all this evil upon us which ye see this day. Ye may eat of that tree still, if so it please you; but if ye taste not of the tree of life at the same time, your knowledge shall only open to you the gates of hell. Knowledge of itself alone is as land which may either become a blooming garden or a howling wilderness. It is a sea out of which you shall bring pearls or dead men’s bones. Life and death, heaven and hell, are here: if it was said of old, “Take heed what you hear,” I also say, “Take heed what you know.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Expectancy

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

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. – 1 John 5:15

I was awakened at about four o’clock this morning by a sharp shrill sound. I thought it was a swallow screaming by the window, and I fell asleep again. A young bird had found its way into my room, and was crying for liberty. I left my bed and opened the window to let the captive free. It did not seem to know its way, and so I caught it and gently placed it at the window, and in a moment it flew to the oak tree close by and sat itself down. I watched its movement. The moment it had perched itself comfortably it began to utter sharp cries, and it turned its little head round on all sides as if looking for some one. It was crying for its mother, and why? Because it expected to be fed. And why did it expect to be fed? Because it had been fed before. If it had been a full-grown bird, it would not have called for food, but would have helped itself; but this poor little creature had been nourished by its parents, and it was looking round to be supplied again. This is why we pray.

O Lord, thou hast supplied our wants so long and so often in answer to prayer, that we are in the way of it; and now we pray, not only because we ought to do so, but because it has become natural to us to pray, and we expect Thee to hear us. When Thou dost hear us we bless Thee, but we are not surprised, as though it were a strange thing. Thy truth causes great admiration but no astonishment, for it is like Thee to keep thy word, We are poor dependent children, and Thou a wise and tender Father; Thou has never left us and Thou wilt never leave us, and so we continue instant in prayer, because we are expectant of Thy grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm