Thrice Happy Are Ye in God

And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. -1 John 3:23

You who dwell in God, allow me to congratulate you. Thrice happy men are ye, if ye are dwelling in God! You need not blush to compare yourselves with angels, you need not think that any on earth can share such happiness as yours! Zion, O how blessed art thou, freed from all sins! Now thou art, through Christ, made to dwell in God, and therefore art eternally secure! I congratulate you, Christians, first, that you have such a magnificent house to dwell in. You have not a palace that shall be as gorgeous as Solomon’s-a mighty palace as immense as the dwellings of the kings of Assyria, or Babylon; but you have a God that is more than mortal creatures can behold; you dwell in an immortal fabric, you dwell in the Godhead-something which is beyond all human skill. I congratulate you, moreover, that you live in such a perfect house. There never was a house on earth that could not be made a little better; but the house you dwell in has every thing you want; in God you have all you require. I congratulate you, moreover, that you live in a house that shall last forever, a dwelling-place that shall not pass away; when this world shall have been scattered like a dream; when, like the bubble on the breaker, creation shall have died away; when all this universe shall have died out like a spark from an expiring brand, your house shall live and stand more imperishable than marble, more solid than granite, self-existent as God, for it is God! Be happy then.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

 

 

Have I the Spirit of God?

Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. -1 John 4:13

Have we ever had the Spirit of God in us? That is one of the most solemn questions I can ask. Many of you know what it is to be excited by religious feeling who never had the Spirit of God. Many of us have great need to tremble lest we should not have received that Spirit. I have tried myself scores of times, in different ways, to see whether I really am a posssessor of the Spirit of God or not. I know that the people of the world scoff at the idea, and say, “It is impossible for any body to have the Spirit of God.” Then it is impossible for any body to go to heaven; for we must have the Spirit of God, we must be born again of the Spirit, before we can enter there. What a serious question is this: “Have I had the Spirit of God in me? True, my soul is at times lifted on high, and I feel I could sing like a seraph. True, sometimes I am melted down by deep devotion, and I could pray in terrible solemnity. But so could hypocrites, perhaps. Have I the Spirit of God? Have you any evidence within you that you have the Spirit? Are you sure that you are not laboring under a delusion and a dream? Have you actually the Spirit of God within you? If so, you dwell in God…

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” The confession of our faith in the Saviour is another sign that we live in God. Oh! poor heart, canst thou not come under this sign? Thou mayest have but little boldness, but canst thou say, “I believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?” If so, thou dwellest in God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

 

If We Love One Another…

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. -1 John 4:12

How may we know whether we be Christians or not, whether the Lord is our dwelling-place, and will be throughout all generations?..It is remarkable that almost the only scriptural writer who speaks of God as a dwelling-place, is that most loving apostle, John…

He gives us in the 12th verse of the 4th chapter (of 1 John), one means of knowing whether we are living in God: “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.” And again further on, he says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” You may then tell whether you are a tenant of this great spiritual house by the love you have toward others. Have you a love toward the saints? Well, then, you are a saint yourself. The goats will not love the sheep; and if you love the sheep, it is an evidence that you are a sheep yourself. Many of the Lord’s weak family never can get any other evidence of their conversion except this- “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” And though that is very little evidence, yet it is such a one that the strongest faith often can not get a much better… What! has the devil told thee thou art not the Lord’s? Poor Faintheart, dost thou love the Lord’s people? “Yes,” sayest thou, “I love to see their faces, and to hear their prayers; I could almost kiss the hem of their garments.” Is it so? and would you give to them if they were poor? would you visit them if they were sick, and tend them if they needed assistance? “Ah! yes.” Then fear not. You who love God’s people must love the Master. We know we dwell in God if we love one another. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

Always Our Dwelling-Place

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. -Psalm 90″1

God is the believer’s habitation. Sometimes, you know, people get turned out of their houses, or their houses tumble down about their ears. It is never so with ours: God is our dwelling-place throughout all generations. Let us look back in times past, and we shall find that God has been our habitation. Oh, the old house at home! who does not love it, the place of our childhood, the old roof-tree, the old cottage! There is no village in all the world half so good as that particular village where we were born! True, the gates, and stiles, and posts have been altered; but still there is an attachment to those old houses, the old tree in the park, and the old ivy-mantled tower. It is not very picturesque, perhaps, but we love to go to see it. We like to see the haunts of our boyhood. There is something pleasant in those old stairs where the clock used to stand; and in the room where grandmother was wont to bend her knee, and where we had family prayer. There is no place like that house after all! Well, beloved, God has been the habitation of the Christian in years that are gone by. Christian, your house is indeed a venerable house, and you have long dwelt there. You dwelt there in the person of Christ long before you were brought into this sinful world; and it is to be your dwelling-place throughout all generations. You are never to ask for another house; you will always be contented with that one you have; you will never wish to change your habitation. And if you wished it, you could not; for He is your dwelling-place in all generations. God give you to know what it is to take this house in its long lease, and ever to have God for your dwelling-place! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

The Center of My Soul

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. -Psalm 90:1

It is natural that men should love their homes; it is spiritual that they should love them better still. In our homes we find those to whom we must and ever shall be most attached. There our best friends and kindred dwell…We wish to feel, and every Christian man will feel with regard to his own family, that they are the warp and woof of his own nature, that he has become a part and portion of them; and there he centers his affection…Christian man, is God your habitation in that sense? Have you given your whole soul to God? Do you feel you can bring your whole heart to Him, and say, “O, God! I love from my soul; with the most impassioned earnestness I love Thee.

“The dearest idol I have known-
Whate’er that idol be-
Help me to tear it from its throne,
And worship only Thee!”

O God! though I sometimes wander, yet I love Thee in my wanderings, and my heart is fixed on Thee. What though the creature doth beguile me, I detest that creature; it is to me as the apple of Sodom. Thou art the master of my soul, the emperor of my heart; no vice-regent, but King of kings. My spirit is fixed on Thee as the center of my soul.

“Thou art the sea of love
Where all my pleasures roll,
The circle where my passions move;
The center of my soul.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

At Home With God

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. -Psalm 46:1

In this pulpit I must somewhat check my words; I deal with men of the world who watch my speech, and are ever on the catch, men who wish to have this or that to retail, I must be on my guard. So you men of business, when you are on the exchange, or in your shops, have to guard yourselves. What does the man do at home? He can lay bare his breast, and do and say as he pleases; it is his own house, his dwelling-place; and is he not master there? Shall he not do as he will with his own? Assuredly; for he feels himself at home. Ah! my beloved, do you ever find yourself in God to be at home? Have you been with Christ, and told your secrets in His ear, and found that you could do so without reserve? We do not generally tell secrets to other people, for if we do, and make them promise that they will never tell them, they will never tell them except to the first person they meet…You must not trust men of the world; but do you know what it is to tell all your secrets to God in prayer, to whisper all your thoughts to Him? You are not ashamed to confess your sins to Him with all their aggravations; you make no apologies to God, but you put in every aggravation, you describe all the depths of your baseness. Then, as for your little wants, you would be ashamed to tell them to another; before God you can tell them all. You can tell Him your grief that you would not whisper to your dearest friend. With God you can be always at home, you need be under no restraint. The Christian at once gives God the key of his heart, and lets Him turn every thing over. He says, “There is the key of every cabinet; it is my desire that Thou wouldst open them all. If there are jewels, they are Thine; and if there be things that should not be there, drive them out. Search me, and try my heart.” The more God lives in the Christian, the better the Christian loves Him; the oftener God comes to see him, the better he loves his God. And God loves His people all the more when they are familiar with Him. Can you say in this sense, “Lord, Thou hast been my dwelling place?”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm