Christian Life

Who Is the Landlord?

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. – Isaiah 38:1

This mortal life and its surroundings are likened to a house and the first point of the similitude will be seen if we inquire, WHO IS THE LANDLORD? The first answer is that certainly we are not. To all men, it may be truthfully said, “Ye are not your own.” We are tenants, but not freeholders. We are mere tenants at will without a lease. The earthly house of this tabernacle belongs to Him who built it. He who sustains it keeps the title deed in His own possession. Our house belongs to God. Dear friend, do you ever think of this? Do you remember, as a matter of fact, that you and yours are God’s property? He created you and created you for His own glory. Your soul was spoken into existence by Him. Your bodily powers were all bestowed by His hand. You are the creature of the Almighty. In every vein, sinew, and nerve of your body, there are traces of the Divine Embroiderer’s skill. You are God’s in all the most secret goings and issues of your life, for to Him you owe every day the continued possession of your existence… Day by day you are a commoner at the table of divine bounty, a pensioner, hour by hour, upon the infinite mercy of God. You have nothing and are nothing but as God pleases. You owe all you have and all you are to Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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A Thoughtful Walk in the Cemetery

Sherry Christian Life 2 Comments

“Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” – Isaiah 38:1

Notwithstanding that a thousand voices proclaim our mortality, we are all too apt to put aside the contemplation of it. Since we cannot escape from death, we endeavor to shut our eyes to it, although there is no subject whose consideration would be more beneficial to us. Altering one word of the poet’s line, I may say,—

“’ Tis greatly wise to talk with our last hours.”

To be familiar with the grave is prudence. To prepare for death, it is well to commune with death. A thoughtful walk in the cemetery is good for our soul’s health. As Jeremy Taylor well observes, “Since a man stands perpetually at the door of eternity, and as did John the Almoner, every day is building his sepulchre, and every night one day of our life is gone and passed into the possession of death, it will concern us to take care that the door leading to hell does not open upon us, that we are not crushed to ruin by the stones of our grave, and that our death become not a consignation of us to a sad eternity.” The most of men prefer to cultivate less fruitful fields and turn their thoughts and meditations to subjects trivial for the present—and useless for the future. “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!”

“Look to thy soul, O man, for none can be surety for his brother: Behold, for heaven—or for hell—thou canst not escape from Immortality!” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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God Gives His Grace Freely

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

How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you? – Joshua 18:3

All that any child of God was, you may be; all the joy, and bliss, and holiness ever enjoyed on earth, you may enjoy. The land is before you; go in to possess it. Do not be without the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord, for in Him is “joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” Some of our dear friends hear a doctrine which is gospel and water; and they really do not know what the undiluted gospel is. The doctrines of grace are the cream which many cautious preachers skim from the milk of the Word lest it should prove too rich for the stomachs of their hearers. A solid portion of Calvinistic doctrine is like a joint of nourishing meat, and the people of this generation are such babes that they cannot digest it. It is too rich for me!” cries one. I know it, I know it. But I pray the Lord to make you grow into men, who can enjoy the fat things full of marrow, and the wines on the lees well refined. There are glorious truths of which beginners know nothing, and through not knowing of them they miss much joy. Full many a child of God goes fretting and worrying when he ought to be singing and rejoicing, and would be so if he knew what God has provided for him. God gives His grace freely; freely take it. God bless you, for Christ’s sake! Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2086.cfm

This Holy Battle

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

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. – Joshua 1:5

God’s people are in conflict with sin, and they carry out this war vigorously when they have first seen their right to the blessings of grace, as given them of the living God. You may not claim a piece of land unless you are sure that it is really yours; you are a thief if you do. But when you are sure that an estate is rightfully yours, then you commence your action, and strive to win it, In spiritual things, waive no spiritual right. Say to sin, that now mars your peace, “Peace is mine, clear out!” Say to sin, that stops your usefulness, “That usefulness is mine, I claim it: clear out!” “Hivite, Jebusite, Girgashite, whatever sort of fellow you are, clear out of my heart and life, for holiness is mine. God, the sovereign possessor of all things, has given us our redeemed nature, to have and to hold for His glory, and we mean to have it!”

Each blessing is yours, since you put the foot of faith upon it; but the actual enjoyment of it will need a struggle. War! war! war! with every Canaanite! Break their images, and cut down their groves. They must be driven out at the sword’s point. You have God’s help with you in this holy battle. Your warfare will be accomplished, for the Lord Himself has said, “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2086.cfm

Put Your Foot On It

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

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you. – Joshua 1:3

The Lord says to you, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you.” This is an easy way of taking land: to put your foot down upon it. I delight in that word of the Lord to Jacob, when he lay asleep, “The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.” If you can, by faith, lie down on a promise, and find rest in it, it is yours. Every place in the grace country upon which the sole of your foot shall tread is yours. You will remember that the Red Indians agreed to sell to William Penn as much land as a man could walk round in a day; and I do not wonder that at the end of the day they complained that the white brother had made a big walk. I think I should have put my best leg foremost, if whatever I could put my foot upon would be mine; would not you? Why, then, do you not hurry up in spiritual matters? Do you value earthly things more than spiritual? Mark, then, that if you put your foot down upon a blessing, and say, “This is mine,” it is yours. What a very simple operation is the claim of faith!

Strangers cavil, children claim. He that can trust his Lord may say, “In the name of the living God this blessing is mine.” Come, then, brother, if there be more holiness, put your foot on it; if there be more happiness, put your foot on it; if there be more usefulness, put your foot on it. Lay your claim to all that is put within your reach in Scripture; this is the victory that overcometh the world, and conquereth Canaan, even our faith. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2086.cfm

The Land of Gracious Experience – Immanuel’s Land

Sherry Christian Life 1 Comment

Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. – Joshua 1:2

Let us make a move towards our possession. There is your land, but Jordan rolls between. The first thing to do in this matter is to go over this Jordan. What do we mean? Out in the wilderness as a seeker, whose faith does not enter in, you are like a sheep which wanders from the fold, and you find little rest. You are apt to be numbered with the Bedouin of the desert, and not with the people of the Lord. Come out from the world, and be separate. The land of gracious experience is meant for you to dwell in, so that you may be recognized as the Lord’s peculiar people, separated unto the Most High. Are you ready to come right out, to be settled in Immanuel’s land, to break every link with “the world which lieth in wickedness”? I have heard a great deal of talk about this separation, but I have seen these very talkers hesitate when the decisive act of separation from false doctrine and unholy living has been expected of them. I pray you hear the divine voice, which crieth, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and. daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” It is required of you, in order to your full entrance into the grace state, that you take up a decided stand on the Lord’s side. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2086.cfm

If Children, then Heirs

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

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ… – Romans 8:17

The highest privileges of the covenant of grace are not the monopoly of advanced saints, they are the common property of all believers. A habit is growing up of saying, “Such and such a man is a saint”; and then you set him up in a niche after the fashion of Rome. Are not you also a saint? You will never enter heaven unless you are. If you are a saint, why not take a saint’s inheritance? “Oh, but certain chosen ones are the Lord’s favourites!” What! Has He not also chosen you, and favoured you? Else it will go hard with you. Well, then, being yourselves favoured and chosen, why do you not take hold upon the glorious estate which belongs to the chosen family. No part of Scripture is of private interpretation: no bit of the promised country may be hedged in as the peculiar portion of a few; for it all belongs to all the redeemed if they have but faith to make it their own. Do not hedge about the word spoken of the Lord, and say, “Ah! He said that to Jacob.” Doth not the Lord tell us by His servant Hosea that “he found Him in Bethel, and there He spake with us”? Although choice words were first of all spoken to this man or that, yet were they spoken for all believing people throughout all time. In the holy heritage all who have Christ have all that Christ brings with Him… Come, brethren, bestir yourselves, and claim your heirship. Take possession of the whole territory of grace which the Lord has dedicated to your use. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2086.cfm