Christian Life

Look at the Savior Himself!

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

…for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. – Psalm 130:7

You seek pardon, look to the pardoning God. You will soon believe in forgiveness if you cause the first exercise of your faith to refer to the Forgiver, even Christ Jesus Himself. When you have believed in Him as able to say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee,” then you will believe in sins being forgiven. This is the natural order of things. To be healed, you believe first in the Healer. So, also, if you desire to believe for salvation, and to be assured that you have it, or may have it at once, the simple course-the natural course-is to believe in the Savior. When you have believed in the Savior, then you will believe in the salvation. If you know that Jesus can save you, if you desire to be saved, you will trust Him to save you. You will be readily able to believe that you can be saved when you trust in Jesus as able to save to the uttermost. Poor trembling heart, do not look at the blessing, and say, “Alas, it is too great!” Look at the Savior Himself! Is anything too great for Him to give who gave His heart’s blood to redeem? Do not say, “My heart is so hard, it cannot be changed.” Look at the Savior; is anything impossible to Him to whom the Father has committed all power? Is He not mighty to save? Fix your eye, first and foremost, upon Him who is both God and man, and has therefore power and sympathy, majesty and mercy, omnipotence and brotherliness. I pray you, do not consider so much the greatness of the effect as the unlimited power of the Cause. I may doubt my washing, but not when I believe in the cleansing virtue of the precious blood. It may be difficult to believe in my salvation, but not to believe in my Savior. It may be hard to hope for heaven; but the text sets me an easier task-“Let Israel hope in the Lord.“ ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

A Very Encouraging Truth

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

 “Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.” – Psalm 130:7

We do not read, “Let Israel hope for mercy;” but we read, “Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy.” Neither does it say, “Let Israel hope for plenteous redemption;” but it is worded thus, “Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the LORD there is…plenteous redemption.” To me this has the look of a very encouraging truth: the sinner is not to hasten with his first thoughts to the mercy that he wants, nor even to the promise of God to which he may look; but he is to go to the Lord Jesus’ Christ Himself, as the Lord of mercy, and fountain of redemption.

Look first to the Giver, and then to the gift. Look for the Helper, and then for the help. Do not be saying, “I long to be forgiven. I labor to believe that I am forgiven. I desire to be saved. I want to know that I am saved.” This is looking for the fruit, when you have need first to find the tree. Your first business, as a seeker of pardon and salvation, is to believe in Jesus Christ, that is, to trust yourself with the divine Savior. The natural order is, believe in the Promiser, and then you will believe the promise. You never say to yourself, “I should like to be able to take that man’s word. I will sit down and try to make my mind confident of the truth of what he says.” This would be a foolish and futile method of procedure. You follow a much more reasonable course: you enquire about the individual’s character and standing; you find out who he is, and what he is, and what he has done; and thus, you gather arguments for confidence and faith. You cannot help believing the promise when once you believe in the Promiser. Faith prizes the promises of her faithful God and calls them precious. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

The Great Salvation in God Alone

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

Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. – Psalm 130:7,8

At this moment the manifestation of God standeth thus: His dear Son has descended from the highest heavens, and taken upon Himself our human nature, so that He is God and man in one sacred and mysterious Person. In that complex form, the Word made flesh dwelt among men on earth some thirty years and more; and then He took upon Himself the weight of human sin and bare it upon His shoulders up to the cross. He was arrested by the hand of divine justice and treated by justice as if He had been a sinner, though sinner He could never be. He was numbered with the transgressors, and given over to wicked men, who, in their willful malice, scourged Him, spit upon Him, crowned Him with thorns, and condemned Him to a felon’s death. He died, not for any iniquity of His own; but for the transgression of His people was He smitten. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; yea, “He was made a curse for us;” and even more: “He was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” “He died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” If then, we would trust God for our personal salvation, we must confide in Him as He manifests Himself for that purpose; and as we perceive that God sets forth Christ to be a propitiation for our sin, we must accept that ordained way of putting away our sin. This is the way in which “with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption;” and thus it is that “He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

“De Profundis”

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

Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications….I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope…Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption… – Psalm 130

When we meet with a man who has been in special trouble, and he has escaped from it, we are anxious to know how it came to pass, in order that, if we are cast into similar trial, we also may resort to the same door of hope. You meet with a man that has long been sorely afflicted, and to find him full of joy at his relief is a pleasure and a personal comfort. You heard him lamenting for years, and now you hear him rejoicing; and this excites your wonder and your hope. It is as though a cripple saw another lame man leaping and running. He very naturally enquires, “How is this?” The other day you saw a man blind, begging in the street, and now he has an eye bright as that which sparkles on the face of a gazelle, and you cry in astonishment-“Tell me who was the oculist that operated on your eyes; for I may be in a like case, and I should be glad to know where to go.” Here, then, we have a gate of knowledge opened before us. The Psalmist found salvation and deliverance in going direct to God, and trusting in Him; let us follow his example, and in all times of distress, caused by our own iniquity, or by anything else, let us repair to the throne of grace; for the Most High will deal with us also even as He dealt with His servant of old time, to whose cries, out of the depths, He lent an attentive ear. This psalm is called “De Profundis”; its teaching is not only profound but practical. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

He Shall Redeem Israel

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

“Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O LORD...Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.”- Psalm 130:1,7

When he penned this psalm, the writer, David, was in deep distress, if not of circumstances, yet of conscience. He constantly mentions iniquities and begs forgiveness. He felt like a shipwrecked mariner, carried overboard into the raging sea. Thus, he reviews the situation-“Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord.” Yet he lived to tell the tale of deliverance.

Two things the rescued sufferer tells us. First, that, as God delivered him from the power of sin, so He will deliver all His praying, wrestling, believing people. That is the last verse of the psalm-He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” The argument is-He delivered me. What am I more than others? The gracious Lord who saved me will save all those who call upon Him in truth. He delivered me, though laden with iniquities, and His pardoning mercy is unfailing; and therefore, He can and will rescue others from their uttermost distresses. This is a good line of reasoning, for the Lord’s ways are constant, and He will do for all believers what He has done for one of them. The other thing which the Psalmist sets before us is this: we are wise if we apply to God alone for help. He says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.” He incidentally tells us that it is vain to wait upon man, and put our trust in any human support, for the way of deliverance lies alone in reliance upon God, immediately and alone…The psalm encourages us to this by the assurance that the Lord can and will help all that seek Him; and it urges us to let that seeking be distinctly and directly turned to the Most High, to Him alone, and to none other. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

Prayer for Fruitfulness

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, promises, repentance, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. – Mark 5:16

“I’m not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend His cause;
Maintain the honour of His word,
The glory of His cross.”

“Lord, I do not want to be set away in a corner; I am satisfied to stand where men may see my good works and glorify my Father who is in heaven. I do not ask to be observed; but I am not ashamed to be observed; only, Lord, make me fit for observation…I pray Thee, help me to make my calling and election sure. I beseech Thee, help me to bring forth the expected fruit. Thy grace can do it.”

I would suggest to everyone here to cry to the Lord to make us conscious of our natural barrenness. Gracious ones, may the Lord make us mourn our comparative barrenness, even if we do bear some fruit. “Lord, I do serve Thee, and I am no deceiver. I do love Thee; Thou hast wrought the works of the Spirit in me. But alas! I am not what I want to be, I am not what I ought to be. I aspire to holiness: help me to attain it…My cry is, ‘God be merciful to me.’ If I had done all, I should still have been an unprofitable servant; but having done so little, Lord, where shall I hide my guilty head?”

Come Holy Spirit, produce fruit in us this day, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen, and Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2107.cfm

Nothing But Lies

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

When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves… – Mark 11:13

The Searcher finds nothing but leaves where fruit might have been expected. Nothing but leaves mean nothing but lies. Is that a harsh expression? If I profess faith, and have no faith, is not that a lie? If I profess repentance, and have not repented, is not that a lie? If I unite with the people of the living God, and yet have no fear of God in my heart, is not that a lie? If I come to the communion-table, and partake of the bread and wine, and yet never discern the Lord’s body, is not that a lie? If I profess to defend the doctrines of grace, and yet am not assured of the truth of them, is not that a lie? If I have never felt my depravity; if I have never been effectually called, never known my election of God, never rested in the redeeming blood, and have never been renewed by the Spirit, is not my defense of the doctrines of grace a lie? If there is nothing but leaves, there is nothing but lies, and the Saviour sees that it is so. All the verdure of green leaf to him without fruit is but so much deceit. Profession without grace is the funeral pageantry of a dead soul. Religion without holiness is the light which comes from rotten wood-the phosphorescence of decay: I speak dread words, but how can I speak less dreadfully than I do? If you and I have but a name to live, and are dead, what a state we are in! Ours is something worse than corruption: it is the corruption of corruption. To profess religion and live in sin, is to sprinkle rose-water upon a dunghill, and leave it a dunghill still. To give a spirit an angel’s name when it bears the devil’s character, is almost to sin against the Holy Ghost. If we remain unconverted, of what use can it be to have our name written among the godly? An empty profession is a practical curse; and should it not receive the censure of the Lord of truth? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2107.cfm