confession of sin

Remission of Sin

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

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. – Hebrews 9:22

Under the old figurative dispensation, blood was sure to greet your eyes. It was the one most prominent thing under the Jewish economy, scarcely a ceremony was observed without it. You could not enter into any part of the tabernacle, but you saw traces of the blood-sprinkling. Sometimes there were bowls of blood cast at the foot of the altar. The slaughter of animals was the manner of worship; the effusion of blood was the appointed rite, and the diffusion of that blood on the floor, on the curtains, and on the vestments of the priests, was the constant memorial…In every place, at every time, in every instance where sin had to be removed, blood must flow, life must be given.

We have all of us to take the offering which has already been presented, and to accept the sacrifice which Christ has, of Himself, made in our stead; there is now no cause or ground for exemption to any man or woman born, nor ever shall there be, either in this world or in that which is to come, -“Without shedding of blood, there is no remission.” Blood has been shed, and there is, therefore, hope concerning such a thing. Remission, notwithstanding the stern requirements of the law, is not to be abandoned in sheer despair. The word remission means the putting away of debts. Just as sin may be regarded as a debt incurred to God, so that debt may be blotted out, cancelled, and obliterated. The sinner, God’s debtor, may cease to be in debt by compensation, by full acquittance, and may be set free by virtue of such remission. Such a thing is possible. Glory be to God! the remission of all sin is possible to be obtained. God hath so declared it, and He will not be unfaithful to His word. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3418.cfm

The Language of Christ

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

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

“Ye horny-handed sons of toil, ye smiths and carpenters, ye ploughers and diggers, come unto Me, yea, come all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And again, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” He invites men to come; He pleads with them to come; and when they will not come, He gently upbraids them with such words as these, “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” And, again, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” It is not “I would not,” but “ye would not.” Why, the whole of Scripture in its invitations, may be said to be the language of Christ, and therein you find loving, pleading words of this kind, “Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” All our blessed Lord’s sermons were so many loving calls to poor aching hearts to come and find what they needed in Him. I pray that the Holy Spirit may give an effectual call to many of you. It would gladden the heart of the Redeemer in the skies if you would come to Him for salvation, for you may come, since there is no barrier between you and the Savior of men. What is it that keeps you back? I repeat it with tears, what is it keeps you back? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

He is God and Man

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

…but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. – Philippians 2:7

The Lord Jesus Christ is God, but if He were God only, you might well stand at a distance, and shudder at the splendor of His majesty. But He is man as well as God, and so it comes to pass, as Dr. Watts puts it-

“Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find;
The holy, just, and sacred Three
Are terrors to my mind.

But if Immanuel’s face appear,
My hope, my joy begins;
His name forbids my slavish fear,
His grace removes my sins.”

When I see Christ in the manger where the horned ox fed, or hanging on a woman’s breast, or obedient to His parents, or “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” a poor Man without a place whereon to lay His head, then I feel that I can freely come to Him. Think of Him as being precisely such as you are, in all and everything except sin, and then you will never have a thought that He will chide you for drawing near or drive you away when you venture to supplicate Him…And then that voice, how would you be charmed, you poor trembling seekers, if you heard Him say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;” you would discover such meekness and lowliness in Him, that you would not think of starting back. Oh! if your eyes could but see Him, I feel persuaded that, graciously drawn by His charms, your hearts would hasten to Him. Well, believer, come to Him, come to Him; come close to Him. Come with your troubles and tell Him all about them. Come with your sins and ask to have them washed away anew…”Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

The Most God-like Work

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, confession of sin, prayer, promises, repentance, salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” – John 6:28

Never hope to be saved except by God’s way of salvation. O that the Holy Ghost would enable you in your heart to say, “Now I come to Thee, O Jesus; guilty as I am, I lift my eyes to Thee, and this is my prayer: ‘Help me for Thy mercy’s sake; have pity upon me and cleanse me in Thy blood, for I put all my trust in Thee.'” Resolve, O seeker, to have no refuge of lies, no Savior but the Lamb of God.

I will confess to you, dear seeker, that often I am myself personally driven to do what I trust you may be led to do today. I look back upon my past life, and while I have much to thank God for, much in which to see His Spirit’s hand, yet when I feel my responsibilities and my shortcomings, my heart sinks within me. When I think of my transgressions, better known to myself than to anyone else, and remember too that they are not known even to me as they are to God, I feel all hope swept away and my soul left in utter despair, until I come anew to the cross, and bethink me of who it was that died there, and why He died, and what designs of infinite mercy are answered by His death. It is so sweet to look up to the Crucified One again, and say, “I have nought but Thee, my Lord, no confidence but Thee. If Thou be not accepted as my substitute I must perish; if God’s appointed Savior be not enough, I have no other, but I know Thou art the Father’s Well-beloved, and I am accepted in Thee. Thou art all I want, and all I have.”…The Jews asked our Savior, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” and He said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” The greatest of all works, the most Godlike work, is to leave off self-righteous seeking, and trust in Jesus. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0947.cfm

Take Jesus as Your All in All

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

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace… – Ephesians 1:7

When the soul is seeking for Jesus, it is at the same time much grieved to find it cannot even now cease from sin...As if that poor heart expected to be perfect before it had even found pardon! As if a patient expected to be perfectly well before he had followed the advice of his physician! My dear hearer, if you were able to cease from all sin for a single day, I am sure you would be out of place on earth, for heaven is the place for perfect people, and not this sinful earth. If a fountain sent forth nothing but pure water for one whole day, we might conclude that it was completely purified. The bearing of good fruit for one season would prove the tree to be good. If your heart abstained from sin of itself throughout one day, it might for another, and so on forever, and where would be the need of a Savior? What, dost thou not know that Christ came to save thee from thy new sins as well as from thine old transgressions? Is His arm too short to reach thy daily needs? His blood of too little power to wash away thy fresh pollutions? Hast thou still some hope of bettering thyself? Have done with this trifling. Confess thyself a helpless sinner, shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin, depraved in heart, and, therefore, needing the never-ceasing mercy of the Lord thy God. Come, wash now in the fountain filled with blood, and if sin returneth, ask Jesus to wash thy feet again. Make Jesus your sole reliance. Cry to Him, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Nothing else can end your perplexities; you cannot untie the Gordian knot of your difficulties, cut it, then, by leaving all to Jesus. You cannot overcome your sins except by the blood of the Lamb. You cannot be what you should be, nor what you would be, except by taking Jesus to be your all in all. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0947.cfm

Until Time is No More

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

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell… – Colossians 1:19

While the expression “dwell” indicates perpetuity, does not it indicate constancy and accessibility? A man who dwells in a house is always to be found there, it is his home. The text seems to me to say that this fullness of grace is always to be found in Christ, ever abiding in Him. Knock at this door by prayer, and you shall find it at home. If a sinner anywhere is saying, “God be merciful to me!” mercy has not gone out on travel, it dwells in Christ both night and day; it is there now at this moment. There is life in a look at the crucified One, not at certain canonical hours, but at any hour, in any place, by any man who looks. “From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed,” and my prayer shall not be rejected. There is fullness of mercy in Christ to be had at any time, at any season, from any place. It pleased the Father that all fullness should permanently abide in Him as in a house whose door is never shut.

Above all, we see here immutability. All fullness dwells in Christ-that is to say, it is never exhausted nor diminished. On the last day wherein this world shall stand before it is given up to be devoured with fervent heat, there shall be found as much fullness in Christ as in the hour when the first sinner looked unto Him and was lightened…Till time shall be no more He will exercise the same infinite power to forgive, to renew, to deliver, to sanctify, to perfectly save souls. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0978.cfm

Trust Christ Entirely

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee… – Luke 15:18

Some years ago, there was a crossing-sweeper in Dublin, with his broom, at the corner, and in all probability his highest thoughts were to keep the crossing clean, and look for the pence. One day, a lawyer put his hand upon his shoulder, and said to him, “My good fellow, do you know that you are heir to a fortune of ten thousand pounds a year?” “Do you mean it?” said he. “I do,” he said. “I have just received the information; I am sure you are the man.” He walked away, and he forgot his broom. Are you astonished? Why, who would not have forgotten a broom when suddenly made possessor of ten thousand a year? So, I pray that some poor sinners who have been thinking of the pleasures of the world, when they hear that there is hope and that there is heaven to be had, will forget the deceitful pleasures of sin, and follow after higher and better things.

Some of you, I fear, will make mischief even out of the gospel, and will dare to take the cross and use it for a gibbet for your souls. If God is so merciful, you will go therefore and sin the more; and because grace is freely given, therefore you will continue in sin that grace may abound. If you do this, I would solemnly remind you I have no grace to preach to such as you. “Your damnation is just;” it is the word of inspiration, and the only one I know that is applicable to such as you are; but every needy, guilty soul that desires a Savior is told to-day to believe in Jesus, that is, trust in the substitution and sacrifice of Christ, trust Him to take your sin and blot it out; trust Him to take your soul and save it. Trust Christ entirely, and you are forgiven this very moment; you are saved this very instant, and you may rejoice now in the fact that being justified by faith you have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. O come ye, come ye, come ye; come and welcome; come ye now to the Redeemer’s blood. Holy Spirit, compel them to come in, that the house of mercy may be filled. Amen, and Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1000.cfm