Christian Life

Who Truly Are the “Poor Creatures?”

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

For our God is a consuming fire. -Hebrews 12:29

(The ungodly) will say, “Ah! but (the godly) are poor in spirit; they have not good ideas of themselves. Hear them-they are always confessing sinfulness and weakness, and they appear to go through the world without self-reliance, relying upon some unseen power, and always distrusting themselves, and they do not seem to have the pluck that the ungodly have. Why, we who know not God can drink, and they will stop where we can go. And we can let out an oath, but they are afraid. And there is many a song that we can sing that these fastidious folks would not dare to hear, and there is many an amusement which we can enjoy which they, poor creatures, are obliged to deny themselves.” …I do not know that you could do better than pity them. It would be a pity to be angry with them for not enjoying what you enjoy. Don’t, therefore, sneer. But, after all, sir, you know very well that there is more manliness in refusing to sin than there is in sinning; that there is more pluck in saying, “No, I cannot,” than there is in being led by the devil, first into one sin, and then into another… I dare not do that which would dishonour God. I am thankful to be such a coward that I dare not venture it. But you shall not say that we are cowardly…It is not true that we are poor in spirit in the sense that is often attached to us. We have as much of courage of the right kind as the ungodly have. But, sir, we can afford to bear your jest. We are afraid to be damned; we are afraid to take a leap into the dark future, with wrath upon our heads; we do tremble before the living God, though we will tremble nowhere else. We count it no dim honour to fear Him who is a consuming fire. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3512.cfm

The Poor in Pocket Mocked

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

For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. -Psalm 9:18

It is very common for ungodly men to pour contempt upon God’s people. It so happens that many of God’s people are poor in pocket, and how often do hear the observation, “Oh! these Methodists, these Presbyterians, these Baptists, they are a set of poor people, mechanics, and servant-girls and so on,” and how often is that uttered with a sneer upon the lips! Well now, that is a fine thing to make fun of, isn’t it, for, after all, what is there to be ashamed of in honest poverty? I will stand here and say that if I could stand to-morrow morning in Cheapside, and pick out a dozen poor men, and then if I were to pick out a dozen middle-class men, and then if I were to pick out a dozen rich men, I believe, as to character, they would be very much of a likeness. You shall go, if you will, and pick out at random twelve good princes, and see if you could do it; but I will pick you out twelve working men that shall be honest, and upright, and chaste-which great men are not always. The poor are no worse than the rich, and have no more right to be despised. And if it were true that all who fear God were poor, it might, perhaps, be rather to their credit than to their dishonour, for, at any rate, nobody would be able to say that their pockets were lined with the result of fraud. If they were poor, they would, at any rate, be free from many of the accusations that might be brought against rich men. I care no more for one class than another, especially when I preach the gospel-you are all alike to me, one as the other-but this I will say, that of all jests and all sneers that is one of the most ridiculous and mean against godly people, is because they are poor. ~ C.H.Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3512.cfm

The Godly Are Mocked by Fools

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

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the LORD? There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the counsel of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge. -Psalm 14:4-6

God’s Word divides the whole human race into two portions. There is the seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman-the children of God, and the children of the devil-those who are by nature still what they always were, and those who have been begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. There are many distinctions among men, but they are not much more than surface-deep. This one distinction, however, goes right through, and it is very deep. I may say that between the two classes, the saved and the unsaved, there is a great gulf fixed. There is as wide a difference between the righteous and the wicked as there is between the living and the dead…Now from the very first, between the two seeds there has always been an enmity-an enmity which has never been mitigated, and never will. It displays itself in various ways, but it is always there…The fool hath made a mock of the righteous man, and this has been the subject of his mockery, that the godly man has been fool enough as he calls him, to put his trust in God, and to make this the main point and purpose of his life. There may be some here who have done this; all of us do it to some extent until we are new-born. We ridicule, if not with the tongue, yet in our heart, those who have made God their refuge, for when we begin to value the people of God, it is a sign of some degree of grace in us: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren”; but until we come into that state of grace there is a hatred or contempt, more or less developed, against those who are resting in the living God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3512.cfm

Trusting Jesus, You are Saved

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

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. – John 5:24

Oh, thank God, poor sinner, that you do hear it rung in your ears-Come as you are! Come as you are! You hear the gospel sung to you:-

“Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
Just as I aim- Thy love I own,
Has broken every barrier down:
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”

We hold up to you no ceremonies, no feelings, no works, no orthodoxies; we only hold up Christ, Christ crucified, a substitute for sinners, a substitute for you if you trust Him; and we tell you again and again, till we half fear of tiring you, that, trusting Jesus, you are saved…Jesus came all the way from heaven to earth to save us- “Who though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through His poverty might be made rich.” How shall we be grateful enough for this unspeakable gift?

“O, for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break,
And all harmonious human tongues
The Savior’s praises speak.”

“A wounded, weak, and helpless worm,
On Christ’s kind arms I fall;
Be Thou my strength and confidence,
My Jesus and my all.”

~C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0550.cfm

 

Sinner, It Is Now or Never with Thy Soul

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

…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. – 2 Corinthians 6:2

A man on board a vessel, when he hears the cry of “Fire!” must not stop to arrange his clothes; he must not be concerned to see that his face is washed, that he has bound together that little bundle of papers, or packed up the portmanteau, or counted over the little purse of gold, or even snatched his little property from the cabin. At once, at once, must he climb the stairs and reach the deck, or he will never have stairs to climb, nor feet to climb with. Now or never. Quick is the word. Waste a moment, and it is all over with you; the fire is upon you, for it tarries not in its march… Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Now, now, NOW. This is the only period God has allotted to you, take care that you use it, lest when your to-days are past, and you hope to see your to-morrow, you should have to spend your to-morrows in the pit of hell. Procrastination is not only the thief of time, but the thief of souls. Now is the day of salvation; I have never heard of any other day.

I know, young man, you intend to think of these things when you are ill; you expect to have a long time upon a sick-bed, and then you suppose all will be right before you die. I tell you, sir, it is hard repenting upon a dying bed.

Consider your ways, O sinners, born to die. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, O trembler, and thou shalt be saved. Trust Him, trust Him. God help thee to trust Jesus, for it is now or never with thy soul. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0550.cfm

“O God, let the alarm be heard!”

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God 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

The good ship “Amazon,” …Who among her crew or passengers has a fear for her safety? But in the book of providence, there was a black line against that ship, and never more could she reach her desired haven…Night came on; the watch was changed as usual; the captain turned in, feeling that all was right and safe. The passengers were snug in their berths…as assured of security as men could be. In a moment, what a change had taken place! A passenger perceives a smell of fire; the warning cry is raised. Everyone rushes upon deck. Attempts arc made to quench the fire; but when the hatches are lifted up, the wind rushes in, and the fire is fanned to a dreadful, all-devouring conflagration….

Sinner, how hard it is to bring thee to serious consideration of thy ways. We cannot touch thy wits, or make thee reason like a man of sound mind. Thou wilt sooner be damned by thoughtlessness than give an hour’s careful meditation to thy soul’s affairs. We would fain drag thee out of thy sleeping berth, and even kick thee and strike thee, treating thee to rough usage, if we could by this means drag thee from the devouring flames; thou wouldst thank us well enough afterwards for these rough cuffs, if we could but wake thee. We hear complaints that the minister speaks too harshly and talks too much of judgment. Saved sinners never make that complaint. They know that nothing but these terrors will awaken some slumbering minds; and if they be awakened themselves, they are but too glad, however rough the means may have been. …Let us take heed unto ourselves lest in the world to come this carnal security of ours should be like faggots to the fire, and the remembrance of our sloth should pour oil upon the flames. O God, let the alarm be heard… ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0550.cfm

 

When the Sword is Sharp Canst Thou Play About Its Edge?

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

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. -Malachi 4:1

I would I could speak upon this dreadful subject in a proper manner. Whitfield had tones and emotions which were fitting for such a subject. He would cry out, “Oh, the wrath to come! The wrath to come! The wrath to come!” He would cry, I say, until all his hearers responded. with, “What must we do to be saved?” And good Baxter, trembling lest be should he guilty of men’s blood, while he delivered the message, as a dying man to dying men-knew the terrors of the law, and right earnestly he persuaded men to escape for their lives. O sirs, if I saw you. in a burning house, there were not half so much need of earnestness as when I see you in the midst of a mass of sin and corruption which must be consumed by God’s anger, and you with it. Sinner, why wilt. thou die? What can ail thee? What besots thee that thou dost not perceive anything dreadful in the wrath of Him who made thee? He can dash whole worlds to pieces-what can He not do with thee? Hast thou. learned to be callous when thou hearest of eternity? Hast thine ear grown cold to that dreadful word, “Condemnation?” Canst thou read the story of those to whom He said, “Depart, ye cursed,” and not tremble? Canst thou know that thou art this day in danger of the judgment, and not be afraid? When the sword is sharp, and furbished, and taken out of its sheath, canst thou play about its edge? Canst thou yet make mirth? Then is there indeed, need for me to cry to thee, and for all God’s faithful ministers to cry with louder voice than mine-“Escape! escape! escape for thy life.!  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0550.cfm