Christian Life

In the Land of Enemies

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. – John 15:19

(M)an of God, look around thee. Do not be asleep. Open thine eyes, and look around thee… This is a wicked world… “Cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm.” Blessed is he that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is”…The world is not to be trusted in, not to be relied upon…  Look around thee my brother; thou wilt see some good hearts, strong and valiant; thou wilt see some true souls, sincere and honest; thou wilt see some faithful lovers of Christ; but I tell thee O child of light, that where thou meetest one sincere man, thou wilt meet twenty hypocrites; where thou wilt find one that will lead thee to heaven, thou wilt find a score who would push thee to hell. Thou art in a land of enemies, not of friends.

O Christian! the world is not thy friend. If it is, then thou art not God’s friend; for he who is the friend of the world is the enemy of God; and he who is despised of men, is often loved of Jehovah. Thou art in an enemy’s country, man: therefore, expect trouble: expect that the man who “eats thy bread will lift up his heel against thee;” expect that thou shalt be estranged from those that love thee; be assured that since thou art in the land of the foe, thou shalt find foemen everywhere. When thou sleepest, think that thou sleepest on the battle-field; when thou walkest believe that there is an ambush in every hedge. Oh! take heed, take heed: this is no good world to shut thine eyes in. Look around thee, man; and when thou art upon the watch-tower, reckon surely that trouble cometh. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

As Through Much Tribulation

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, The Father 3 Comments

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us…- 2 Corinthians 1:5

Look upward. Dost thou see thy heavenly Father, a pure and holy being, spotless, just, perfect? Dost thou know that thou art one day to be like Him? Thinkest thou that thou wilt easily come to be conformed to His image? Wilt thou not require much furnace work, much grinding in the mill of trouble, much breaking with the pestle in the mortar of affliction, much being broken under the wheels of agony? Thinkest thou it will be an easy thing for thy heart to become as pure as God is? Dost thou think thou canst so soon get rid of thy corruptions, and become perfect, even as thy Father which is in heaven is perfect?

Lift up thine eye again; dost thou discern those bright spirits clad in white, purer than alabaster, more chaste, more fair than Parian marble? Behold them as they stand in glory. Ask them whence their victory came. Some of them will tell you they swam through seas of blood. Behold the scars of honor on their brows; see, some of them lift up their hands and tell you they were once consumed in fire; while others were slain by the sword, rent in pieces by wild beasts; were destitute afflicted, tormented. 0 ye noble army of martyrs, ye glorious hosts of the living God. Must ye swim through seas of blood, and shall I hope to ride to heaven wrapped in furs and ermine? Did ye endure suffering, and shall I be pampered with the luxuries of this world? Did ye fight and then reign, and must I reign without a battle. Oh, no. By God’s help I will expect that as ye suffered so must I, and as through much tribulation ye entered the kingdom of heaven, so shall I. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

The Sufferings Are to be Expected

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. -Luke 14:27

Our holy Apostle says “The sufferings of Christ abound in us.” Before we buckle on the Christian armour we ought to know what that service is which is expected of us… Jesus Christ Himself said, “Count the cost.” He wished to have no disciple who was not prepared to go all the way-“to bear hardness as a good soldier.” I have sometimes heard religion described in such a way that its high coloring displeases me. It is true “her ways are ways of pleasantness;” but it is not true that a Christian never has sorrow or trouble. It is true that light-eyed cheerfulness, and airy-footed love, can go through the world without much depression and tribulation but it is not true that Christianity will shield a man from trouble; nor ought it to be so represented. In fact, we ought to speak of it in the other-way.

Soldier of Christ, if thou enlisteth, thou wilt have to do hard battle. There is no bed of down for thee; there is no riding to heaven in a chariot; the rough way must be trodden; mountains must be climbed, rivers must be forded, dragons must be fought, giants must be slain, difficulties must be overcome, and great trials must be borne…it is only pleasant because of the company, because of the sweet promises on which we lean, because of our Beloved who walks with us through all the rough and thorny brakes of this vast wilderness.

Christian, expect trouble: “Count it not strange concerning the fiery trial, and as though some strange thing had happened unto thee;” for as truly as thou art a child of God, thy Saviour hath left thee for his legacy,-“In the world, ye shall have tribulation; in Me ye shall have peace.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

 

Consolation Proportionate to Spiritual Sufferings

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”- 2 Corinthians 1:5

Seek ye rest from your distresses ye children of woe and sorrow? This is the place where ye may lighten your burden, and lose your cares… this is the place where God designs to cheer thee, and to make thy distresses stay their never ceasing course; this is the spot where His children love to be found, because here they find consolation in the midst of tribulation, joy in their sorrows, and comfort in their afflictions… Ay, my friends, if it were not true, ye might weep. If the Bible were not the truth of God-if we could not meet together around His mercy seat, then ye might put your hands upon your loins and walk about as if ye were in travail. If ye had not something in the world beside your reason, beside the fleeting joys of earth-if ye had not something which God had given to you, some hope beyond the sky, some refuge that should be more than terrestrial, some deliverance which should be more than earthly, then ye might weep;-ah! weep your heart out at your eyes, and let your whole bodies waste away in one perpetual tear. Ye might ask the clouds to rest on your head, the rivers to roll down in streams from both your eyes, for your grief would “have need of all the watery things that nature could produce.”

But, blessed be God, we have consolation, we have joy in the Holy Ghost. We find it nowhere else. We have raked the earth through, but we have discovered ne’er a jewel; we have turned this dunghill-world o’er and o’er a thousand times, and we have found nought that is precious; but here, in this Bible, here in the religion of the blessed Jesus we, the sons of God, have found comfort and joy; while we can truly say, “As our afflictions abound, so our consolations also abound by Christ.” ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0013.cfm

He Shall Strengthen Your Heart

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises 3 Comments

…and He shall strengthen your heart…Psalm 31:24

How does God strengthen men’s hearts? Well, sometimes, by gracious providence… It is a grand thing to get into such deep water that you cannot touch the bottom, and must swim, and then to feel the eternal buoyancy of God’s providence bearing you up. It is grand swimming when there are ten thousand fathoms of ocean below you, there is no fear of knocking your foot against a rock then; and when you get right out into a simple dependence upon the living God, and feel the waves of His eternal influences round about you, then will you be happy and blest.

…So, too, have I known a man’s heart to be mightily strengthened by a precious promise. Who knows the wonderful power of a text of Scripture? We used to have, thirty years ago,—I do not know whether you have them now,—”poor men’s plasters” which we used when we felt weak in the back; but a promise out of the Scripture is a poor man’s plaster indeed. What strength it gives to the loins! How we seem to be braced up when we truly lay hold of a promise of God, and it really gets a grip upon our spirit!

Who has ever made Him deny His promise, or retract His word? If thou wilt trust Him, He will be better to thee than thy fears; nay, better to thee than thy beliefs, or thy largest hopes. Stay yourselves upon Him; lean upon the bosom of eternal love; lean hard, lean all your weight there, and leave that weight there, and the Lord be with you, and bless you! Blessed are all they that trust in the Lord. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2455.htm

God Will Help Those Who Trust in Him

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. -Psalm 31:24

Most men are subject to fainting fits at times. Even David became weak and faint; and Samson, after he had cried exultingly, “With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass, have I slain a thousand men,” yet, for want of a draught of water, was ready to lie down, and faint and die. The best of men are but men at the best; and, therefore, who wonders if their heart sometimes faileth them in the day of suffering, in the hour of battle, or under the broiling sun, when they are laboring for their Lord?

…He who fights most valiantly may be on the verge of victory, and yet be defeated, if his heart should then fail him. I have no doubt, in reading the records of many campaigns, you must have noticed that men have gone on from victory to victory, and suddenly there has been a pause because their hearts failed them, just when, had they followed up their previous successes, they must have swept all before them. Beware, you who have served God with courage, lest fear should take hold upon you, and you should flinch in the day of battle, and miss that which you might have won for your Lord.

…Oh, do not give way! You need not be cowards; do not give way. Do not say, “I must be beaten, I must always be despondent, my life is crushed.” You need not be so. “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.” Get you to your chamber, fall upon your knees, pour out your heart before God, tell your trouble to the Most High, and, as the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, He must and will help those who put their trust in Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2455.htm

The Confidence We Need

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. ~ Psalm 31:24

The text says, “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;” wherein it is implied that, sometimes, the heart of them that hope in the Lord grows weak. As you well know, heart disease is a very dangerous disease; even if a very little is wrong with the heart, it is a serious matter, for every other part of the body will be affected. Some of God’s own people are occasionally, and many of them very often, subject to a weakness of the heart. They lose their courage, their joy departs from them, and they become timorous and fearful.

Sometimes we have seen those who hope in the Lord very weak in heart under great suffering. Pain follows pain; it seems as if every cut of the knife went deeper than the last, and that the knife was sharper every time… At such times, the spirits sink, and the heart’s action grows feebler and feebler…I do not think that we are at all lacking in confidence in ourselves,—at any rate, some of us are not; but it is confidence in God which is wanted, and that is quite another thing. This confidence makes the feeble strong, and the timid brave; may we all have a large share of it! God deliver us from faintness of heart, lest we injure the kingdom of our Lord by withholding our service! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2455.htm