Christian Life

The Savior’s Love for You

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

I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. – Song of Songs 7:10

…who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. – Titus 2:14

True love to Jesus grows stronger and stronger in proportion as it abides in Him. We are cold in our love because we live at a distance from Him. The angel who dwells in the sun has never to complain of an ice-bound heart, and he who lives in Christ and abides in Him will blaze and glow with a warmth of love comparable to that of Christ Himself. A Christian is never strong for service when he does not know whether Christ loves him or not. If that is a question, you have put out the fire by which alone the force can be generated which must work the machinery of your spirit. You must know beyond question that Jesus loves you and gave Himself for you! You must feel that He is loving you now, that His heart is looking out through those dear eyes which once wept over Jerusalem and that the meaning of His loving glance is, “Soul, I love you, I loved you so that I gave Myself for you and I have not repented of the gift. I love you still as much as I loved you upon Calvary’s bloody tree.” It is strength to feel that still “His desire is toward me.” Oh, when you feel, “Jesus loves me, Jesus desires me to show my love to Him. Jesus at this moment thinks of me and takes a delight in me”—this will make you strong as a giant in the cause of your Beloved! Between the very jaws of death a man would venture who felt that the love of Christ was set upon him! Love to Jesus is the fountain of courage, the mother of self-denial and the nurse of constancy. Strive, then, for a well-assured sense of the Savior’s love. Be not content till you possess it, for it will be health to your spirit and marrow to your bones—it will be a belt of strength to your loins and a chain of honor about your neck. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1066.cfm

Go and Serve Me!

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

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field… – Song of Solomon 7:11

In the text the spouse speaks of “my beloved” as of a real person, whom she sees, upon whom she leans, and with whom she talks. Christ Jesus is to His Church no fiction, no myth, no imaginary hero…Now a Church will always be strong when the Lord Jesus is real to her! By this, indeed, may her power be estimated. Jesus must be to us no historical Person who was once on earth but is now dead and powerless—He must be an actual Person living still in our midst. Imagine, my Brothers and Sisters, with what enthusiasm the present audience would be stirred if I should retire and in my place there should come forward the very Christ who was nailed to the Cross of Calvary! You would know Him by His hands and His feet—the sacred marks of His passion. Oh, how the sight of Him would stir your souls! You would be bowing your heads in adoration and grudging the closing of your eyes even for a second in prayer, for you would desire, without a pause, to drink in the blessed vision! And if the Crucified One should stand here, and say, “My brethren, My blood-bought Ones for whom I laid down My life, there is yet much to be done to extend My kingdom. There are precious souls, brothers and sisters of yours who know not My name, who must be brought in. There are ignorant ones to be taught and sinful ones to be restored.” And suppose He should then point with His hand to one of you, and say, “I send you there,” and to another, “I send you there.” Why you would feel at once anointed to the appointed work and go forth to do it with much earnestness, carefulness and joy! …Jesus walks among the golden candlesticks and is in His Church now, saying to every one of His people, “Go and serve Me! Seek My blood-bought ones! Help My feeble ones! Feed My sheep and My lambs!” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1066.cfm

There is Life in a Look at Jesus Crucified

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

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:14,15

I believe there are some who really believe themselves to be out of the region of hope. My dear Friends, if God gathers together the outcasts, why should He not gather you? And if it is true that Jesus Christ does not look for goodness, but that He only considers our sin and misery, why should He not look upon you? May I urge you to try my Master? If you go to Him confessing your unworthiness and trusting yourself with Him, if He does not save you, I would like to know about it, because you will be the first person I have ever heard of that trusted himself with Jesus and was rejected! It will not be the case, whatever your condition may be, however desperate your state!

You think your condition to be worse than I have pictured it to be, and you fancy that I cannot know anything about how bad you are. Well, I do not know your special form of rebellion, but you are the very person I mean, for all that. I say, if you are as black as Hell, if you are as foul as the Stygian bog, if you have sinned till your sins cannot be counted and if your actions are so heinous that infinite wrath is their just desert—yet come and look to those five wounds and to that sacred head once wounded, and to that heart pierced with the spear! There is life in a look at Jesus crucified! Will you try it? As surely as God’s word is true, if you do but glance your eyes at Him who “died the just for the unjust,” you shall be brought to God and reconciled! For whoever believes in Him shall be saved! “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm

Made to Wear a Crown and Sit at the Redeemer’s Feet

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

Therefore, the redeemed of the LORD shall return and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. – Isaiah 51:11

In due time the Lord gathers together the outcasts into His visible Church. As David enrolled a company of men that were in debt and discontented, so does Jesus Christ gather the indebted ones and the malcontents and makes them His soldiers. These are known as the Church militant. Surely as David did great exploits by those Pelethites, Cherethites, Gittites and strange men of foreign extraction whom he gathered to himself, so does Jesus of Nazareth do great things by those great sinners whom He greatly forgives—those hard-hearted ones whom He so strangely changes and makes to be the Old Guard of His army.

Yes, He gathers them into His Church and He gathers them into His work. The outcasts of Israel He uses for His own Glory. And when He has done that, He gathers them into Heaven. What a surprise it must be for any man to find himself in Heaven when he remembers where he once was! The outcast remembers the ale-bench on which he sat and soaked himself in liquor till he degraded himself below the brute beast. And now to be cleansed in the Redeemer’s blood and to sit among the angels—this will be surprising Grace, indeed! “Oh, to think,” one might well say, “that I, who was once in lewd company, polluted and defiled, am now made to wear a crown and sit at the Redeemer’s feet!” When we reach Heaven, Brothers and Sisters, I do not suppose that we shall forget all the past. And sometimes it must burst in upon us as a strangely Divine instance of love that Christ should have brought us there and set us among the peers of His realm! And yet He will do it! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm

The Gatherings

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

The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. – Psalm 147:2

The Lord Jesus has several ways of gathering together the outcasts. He gathers them to hear the Gospel. Preach Jesus Christ and they will come! Both outcast saints and outcast sinners will come to hear the charming sound of His blessed name! They cannot help it. Nothing draws like Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ next gathers them to Himself. The parable of the wedding feast is repeated again, “Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled.” “Bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” In this sort, the Lord Jesus Christ gathers multitudes where He is faithfully preached. He gathers all sorts of characters and especially the odds and ends of society—the despised of men and the despised of themselves. He gathers them to Himself.

And oh, what a blessed gathering place that is where there is cleansing for their filthiness, health for their disease, clothing for their nakedness and all-sufficient supplies for their abundant necessities! He gathers them to Himself—which is to gather them to God—to gather them to blessedness and peace through reconciliation with the Father. “To Him shall the gathering of the people be.”

When He has done that, He gathers them into the Divine family. He takes the outcasts and makes them children of God—heirs with Himself. From the dunghill He lifts them and sets them among princes! He takes them from the swine trough and puts the ring on their fingers and the shoes on their feet—and they sit down at the Father’s table to feast and to be glad! Jesus Christ, as the good Shepherd, gathers the lost sheep, the lame, the halt, the diseased and feeds them. He makes them to lie down and restores their souls and, finally, He leads them to the rich pastures of the Glory Land. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm

Blessed Are the Outcasts for Christ

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

But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye… – 1 Peter 3:14

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:10

There are some who become outcasts through their love to Christ and of these the text is peculiarly true. I mean those who suffer for righteousness’ sake till they are regarded as the off-scouring of all things. Are there any that serve God faithfully, who have escaped the trial of cruel mockery? The names of those who are eminently useful are generally used as footballs for an ungodly world. The world is not worthy of them and yet their enemies think they are hardly worthy to live in the world. We do not hear much about persecution nowadays, but in private life there is a world of it! The cold shoulder is given where once friendship was sought—hard, cruel, cutting things are said where once admiration was expressed—and separations take place between good friends because of Christ.

It is still true, in the Christian’s case, that a man’s foes are they of his own household. But if you should become an outcast upon the face of the earth for Christ’s sake, there is this for your comfort— “The Lord does build up Jerusalem, He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.” Of the persecuted He makes pillars in His holy temple forever. Blessed are those who are outcasts for Christ! Rich are those who are so honored as to be permitted to become poor for Him! Happy are they who have had this grace given them—to be permitted to lay life, itself, down for Jesus Christ’s sake! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm

Outcasts, Jesus Christ Can Lift You Up!

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

The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. – Psalm 145:14

He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. The LORD lifteth up the meek… – Psalm 147:2,6

It is a great joy to me to know that our Lord Jesus Christ can save the most wicked of the wicked, the most fallen of the fallen, the most depraved of the depraved! If you have sunk so low that there is not much to choose between you and a devil—and some men and women do get as low as that—yet Jesus Christ can lift you up! If your life story is such that it would be a pity it should ever be told and most grievous that it should ever have been enacted, yet Jesus can wash all the stains of your life away and save you, even you!..Is there no helper on earth? Yet is there One in Heaven! Is there no friend below? Yet is there One above! Is there nothing that can save you? Do you contemplate suicide? Stop, stop your hand, for Jesus is “able to save to the uttermost”—to the uttermost— “them that come unto God by Him.” Let the prayer go up, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and go your way with hope in your soul, for “He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.” Come, then, Outcast! Come to your Redeemer and find pardon! “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as snow! Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool!” Jesus is able to wash away every transgression from those who are steeped in guilt. Countless iniquities dissolve and disappear before the presence of His mighty love, for He, even Jesus, gathers together the outcasts of Israel! You who have shut yourself out as an outcast, you shall be gathered! For whereas they call you an outcast, whom no man seeks after, you shall be called Hephzibah, for the Lord’s delight is in you! Only believe in Jesus Christ and cast yourself upon Him! Outcasts of this sort are the people who most gladly welcome Christ. People who have nowhere else to go but to Him—people so cast down, so full of sin, so everything but what they ought to be—these are the people to whom Christ is very precious! O outcast Soul, trust in Jesus and He will save you! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm