Christian Life

The Power of His Grace

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 1 Comment

“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”- Luke 23:42-43

The story of the salvation of the dying thief is a standing instance of the power of Christ to save, and of His abundant willingness to receive all that come to Him, in whatever plight they may be. I cannot regard this act of grace as a solitary instance, any more than the salvation of Zacchaeus, the restoration of Peter, or the call of Saul, the persecutor. Every conversion is, in a sense, singular: no two are exactly alike, and yet any one conversion is a type of others. The case of the dying thief is much more similar to our conversion than it is dissimilar; in point of fact, his case may be regarded as typical, rather than as an extraordinary incident. 

Remember, beloved friends, that our Lord Jesus, at the time He saved this malefactor, was at His lowest. His glory had been ebbing out in Gethsemane, and before Caiaphas, and Herod, and Pilate; but it had now reached the utmost low-water mark. Stripped of His garments, and nailed to the cross, our Lord was mocked by a ribald crowd, and was dying in agony. Then was He “numbered with the transgressors,” and made as the offscouring of all things. Yet, while in that condition, He achieved this marvellous deed of grace. Behold the wonder wrought by the Saviour when emptied of all His glory and hanged up a spectacle of shame upon the brink of death! How certain is it that He can do great wonders of mercy now, seeing that He has returned unto His glory, and sitteth upon the throne of light! “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” If a dying Saviour saved the thief, my argument is, that He can do even more now that He liveth and reigneth. All power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth; can anything at this present time surpass the power of His grace? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2078.cfm

Whom God Blesses is Blest Indeed

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

Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him. – Isaiah 3:10

It is well with the righteous ALWAYS. If it had said, “Say ye to the righteous, that it is well with him in his prosperity,” we must have been thankful for so great a boon, for prosperity is an hour of peril, and it is a gift from heaven to be secured from its snares: or if it had been written, “It is well with him when under persecution,” we must have been thankful for so sustaining an assurance, for persecution is hard to bear; but when no time is mentioned, all time is included. God’s “shalls” must be understood always in their largest sense. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, from the first gathering of evening shadows until the day-star shines, in all conditions and under all circumstances, it shall be well with the righteous. It is so well with him that we could not imagine it to be better, for he is well fed, he feeds upon the flesh and blood of Jesus; he is well clothed, he wears the imputed righteousness of Christ; he is well housed, he dwells in God; he is well married, his soul is knit in bonds of marriage union to Christ; he is well provided for, for the Lord is his Shepherd; he is well endowed, for heaven is his inheritance. It is well with the righteous-well upon divine authority; the mouth of God speaks the comforting assurance. O beloved, if God declares that all is well, ten thousand devils may declare it to be ill, but we laugh them all to scorn. Blessed be God for a faith which enables us to believe God when the creatures contradict Him. It is, says the Word, at all times well with thee, thou righteous one; then, beloved, if thou canst not see it, let God’s word stand thee instead of sight; yea, believe it on divine authority more confidently than if thine eyes and thy feelings told it to thee. Whom God blesses is blest indeed, and what His lip declares is truth most sure and steadfast. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/morneve/morneve.d0414pm.html

Alter Yourself 

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

…shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? – Romans 3:3

If some do not believe, will God change the gospel to suit them? Will He seek to please their depraved taste? Ought we to change our preaching because of “the spirit of the age”? Never, unless it be to fight “the spirit of the age” more desperately that ever. We ask for no terms between Christ and His enemies except these, unconditional surrender to Him. He will bate not jot of tittle of His claims; but He will still come to you, and say, “Submit yourselves; bow down, and own Me as King and Lord, and take Me to be your Saviour. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there is none else.” If you wait till there is a revised version of the gospel, you will be lost. If you wait till there is a gospel brought out that will not cost you so much of giving up sin, or so much of bowing your proud necks, you will wait until you find yourself in hell. Come, I pray you, come even now, and believe the gospel. It cannot be altered to your taste; therefore, alter yourself so as to meet its requirements.

I thought I saw a vision once, when I was by the seaside. To my closed eyes, there seemed to come down to the beach at Brighton a huge black horse, which went into the water, and began to drink; and I thought I heard a voice that said, “It will drink the sea dry.” My great horse grew, and grew, till it was such a huge creature that I could scarcely measure it; and still it drank, and drank, and drank. All the while the sea did not appear to alter in the least, the water was still there as deep as ever. By-and-by the animal burst, and its remains were washed up on the beach, and there it lay dead, killed by its own folly. That will be the end of this big black horse of infidelity that boasts that it is going to drink up this everlasting gospel. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2255.cfm

If You Will Not Have Christ, Others Will

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

For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? …let God be true, but every man a liar… – Romans 3:3,4

Will God fail to keep His promise to anyone who believes on Him? Because some do not believe, will God’s promise therefore fail to be kept to those who do believe? I invite you to come and try. When two of John’s disciples enquired of Jesus where He dwelt, He said to them, “Come and see.” If any person here will try Christ, as I tried Him when yet a youth, as miserable as I could be, and ready to die with despair, if they shall feel in believing such joy as I felt, if they shall experience such a change of character as passed over me when I believed in Christ, they would not tolerate a doubt. What they have known, and felt, and tasted, and handled of the good Word of God, will prove to them that, if some believe not, yet God abideth faithful, He will never deny Himself.

Will God be unfaithful to His Son if some do not believe? I have heard sometimes a fear expressed that Christ will lose those for whom He dies. I thank God that I have no fear about that. “He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.” I never come to you, and, in forma pauperis, ask you to accept Christ, begging and praying you to take Christ, because otherwise He will be a loser by you. It is you who must beg of Him. He giveth grace as a king bestows his favours; nay more, He lovingly condescends to entreat you to come to Him. Suppose that you wickedly say, “We will not have Christ to reign over us.” If you think that you will rob Him of honour, and bring disgrace upon Him by your rejection, you make a great mistake. If you will not have Him, others will. If you who are so wise will not have Christ, there are plenty whom you reckon to be fools who will take Him to be their “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” This word shall yet become true. “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2255.cfm

The Gospel is No Failure

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

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. – Romans 3:3,4

Some will say, “If So-and-so, and So-and-so do not believe the gospel, then religion is a failure.” We have read of a great many things being failures nowadays. A little time ago, it was a question whether marriage was not a failure. I suppose that, by-and-by, eating our dinners will be a failure, breathing will be a failure, everything will be a failure. But now the gospel is said to be a failure. Why? Because certain gentlemen of professed culture and supposed knowledge do not believe it.

Man has gone from one form of philosophy to another, and every time that he has altered his philosophy, he has only made a slight variation in the same things. Philosophy is like a kaleidoscope. The philosopher turns it round and exclaims that he has a new view of things. So he has; but all that he sees is a few bits of glass, which alter their form at every turn of the toy. If any of you shall live fifty years, you will see that the philosophy to today will be a football of contempt for the philosophy of that period. They will speak, amidst roars of laughter, of evolution; and the day will come, when there will not be a child but will look upon it as being the most foolish notion that ever crossed the human mind. I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but I know what has befallen many of the grand discoveries of the great philosophers of the past; and I expect that the same thing will happen again. I have to say, with Paul, “What if some did not believe?” It is no new thing; for there have always been some who have rejected the revelation of God. What then? You and I had better go on believing, and testing for ourselves, and proving the faithfulness of God, and living upon Christ our Lord, even though we see another set of doubters, and another, and yet another ad infinitum. The gospel is no failure, as many of us know. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2255.cfm

Pray and Tell

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

For what if some did not believe? – Romans 3:3

…he that believeth not is condemned already… – John 3:18

The question of the apostle is, “What if some did not believe?” Well, if I had to ask and answer that question, at this time, I would say, “What if some do not believe?” Then they are lost. “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” There still remains, to those who hear the gospel, the opportunity to believe; and, believing in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. There still remains, to those who hear the gospel, the opportunity to believe; and, believing, they shall find life through the sacred Name. Let us pray for them. If some do not believe, let us, who do believe, make them the constant subject of our prayers; and then let us tell them what it is to be believed, and bear our witness to the saving power of the gospel. When we have done that, let us scrupulously take care that our life and conduct are consistent with the doctrine that we teach, so that, if some do not believe, they may be won to Christ by the example of those who believe in Him. Oh, that every Christian here would seek to bring another person to Christ! I pray you, beloved, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, be not barren nor unfruitful. If you know the great secret, tell it to others. Tell it out; tell it out; we all want stirring up to this blessed work; I am sure we do. I heard of a Christian who always spoke about Christ to at least one person every day. I commend the example for your imitation. How many of us could say that we do that? I know there are some here who do ten times as much as that. It has grown to be a habit with them to speak of Christ to every one they meet; but it is not the habit even of all who believe. It takes some Christians a long time to begin to say anything for their Lord. Let us try and labour hard, that, if some people do not believe, we may bring them to the Saviour, that God may have praise from them also. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2255.cfm

These Should Have Believed

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, salvation, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

For what if some did not believe? – Romans 3:3

In our Saviour’s day, they said, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him?” The gospel has usually had a free course among the poor and among those who some call “the lower orders”, though why they are said to be lower than others, I do not know, unless it is because the heavier and more valuable things generally sink to the bottom. The Church of God owes very little to kings and princes and nobles. She owes far more to fishermen and peasants. Jesus said, “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” I suspect that, until the King Himself shall come, we shall still find that the common people will gladly hear the gospel; and that, while Christ the Lord will choose for His own some from all ranks and conditions of men, it will still be true that “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”

In the days of our Lord and His apostles, the scribes and Pharisees were the greatest haters of the doctrine of Christ. Those whom you might have supposed, being most familiar with the Scriptures, the scribes, would soonest have recognized the Messiah, were the men who would not acknowledge Him. So it was with the priests, even the chief priests, the men who had to do with the sacrifices and with the temple. They rejected Christ, although they were the religious leaders of the people. Do you suppose it is very different now? …Believers are not always those whom you would suppose would be believers…But alas! Alas! Among those who appear to be the children of the kingdom, brought up in the worship of God, there are some, yea, many, who have not believed on Christ; and, saddest of all, even among those who are the teachers of others in the things of God, there are some that have not savingly believed. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2255.cfm