prayer

We Do Beseech You to Be Reconciled to God!

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God 4 Comments

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. – 2 Corinthians 5:20

We need such an one as Richard Baxter to dilate upon this last part of the text. Perhaps we could handle the former part better than he, but he could handle this last far better than we can. Oh! how he would have summoned you by the terrible reality of things to come! With what glaring eyes and seething words he would say, “Oh! men, turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? By the need of a Saviour you will feel in the pangs of parting life, when the pulsings shall be few and feeble, till with a gasp you shall expire; by the resurrection when you will wake up, if not in His likeness, to everlasting shame and contempt; by the judgment-seat, where your sins shall be published, and you shall be called to account for the deeds done in the body; by the dread decree which casteth into the pit for ever those that repent not; by the heaven you will lose:, and by the hell into which you will fall; by eternity, that dread eternity whose years never waste; by the wrath to come, the burning indignation of which shall never cool; by the immortality of your own souls, by the perils you now run, by the promises you despise, by the provocations you multiply, by the penalties you accumulate, we do beseech you to be reconciled to God.” Fly to Jesus. Call upon His name. Trust Him, His word, His work, His goodness and His grace. This is the way of reconciliation. Bow the knee and kiss the Son. We do conjure you to do so. Acquaint yourselves now with God, and be at peace with Him. My text hangs like a crushing weight upon my soul at this moment. It is awful in its grandeur, and it is majestically full of divine love… Oh! that the sense might break in on your understanding! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3497.cfm

“I Have Christ…”

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

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.  – Romans 8:9

At this present hour, if you are without Christ, you lack the very essence of good, by reason of which your choicest privileges are an empty boast, instead of a substantial boon. Without Christ all the ordinances and means of grace are worth nothing. Even this precious Book, that might be weighed with diamonds, and he that was wise would choose the Book, and leave the precious stones-even this sacred volume is of no benefit to you. You may have Bibles in your houses, as I trust you all have, but what is the Bible but a dead letter without Christ? Ah! I would you could all say what a poor woman once said. “I have Christ here,” as she put her hand on the Bible, “and I have Christ here,” as she put her hand on her heart, “and I have Christ there,” as she raised up her eyes towards heaven; but if you have not Christ in the heart, you will not find Christ in the Book, for He is discovered there in His sweetness, and His blessedness, and His excellence, only by those who know Him and love Him in their hearts. Do not get the idea that a certain quantity of Bible-reading, and particular times spent in repeating prayers, and regular attendance at a place of worship, and the systematic contribution of a guinea or so to the support of public worship and private charities will ensure the salvation of your souls. No, you must be born again. And that you cannot be; for it is not possible that you could have been born again if you are still living without Christ. To have Christ is the indispensable condition of entering heaven. If you have Him, though compassed about with a thousand infirmities, you shall yet see the brightness of the eternal glory; but if you have not Christ, alas! for all your toil, and the wearisome slavery of your religion, you can but weave a righteousness of your own, which shall disappoint your hope, and incur the displeasure of God.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3472.cfm

Ambassadors for Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”- 2 Corinthians 5:20

There has long been war between man and his Maker. Our federal head, Adam, threw down the gauntlet in the garden of Eden. The trumpet was heard to ring through the glades of Paradise, the trumpet which broke the silence of peace and disturbed the song of praise. From that day forward until now there has been no truce, no treaty between God and man by nature… Never in the heart of any natural man, unless divine grace has put it there, has a desire to re-establish peace been felt or entertained. If any of you long to be at peace with your Maker, it is because His Spirit has made you long for it. Left to yourselves, you would go from conflict to conflict, from struggle to struggle, and perpetuate the encounter, until it ended in your eternal destruction… That He anxiously desires man to be reconciled unto Him, He proves by taking the first step. He, himself, sends His ambassadors… and He commands those ambassadors to be very earnest, and to plead with men, to pray them, to beseech them that they would be reconciled to God. I take this to be a sure pledge that there is love in the heart of God. Why, at the very announcement of these tidings, the rebellious sinner’s ears should be opened! It were enough to make him say, “I will hearken diligently; I will hear what God the Lord shall speak, for if it be true that He takes the first step towards me, and that He is willing to take up this deadly quarrel, God forbid that I should turn away; I will even now hear and attend to all that God shall speak to my soul.” May He bless the message to you, that you may be reconciled to Him without a moment’s delay. ~ C.H, Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3497.cfm

The Two Coverings

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 12 Comments

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.”- Proverbs 28:13

“Thou Hast covered all their sins.”- Psalm 85:2

We have man’s covering, which is worthless and culpable, and God’s covering, which is profitable, and worthy of all acceptation. No sooner had man disobeyed his Maker’s will in the garden of Eden than he discovered, to his surprise and dismay, that he was naked, and he set about at once to make himself a covering. It was a poor attempt which our first parents made, and it proved a miserable failure. “They sewed fig-leaves together.” After that God came in, revealed to them yet more fully their nakedness, made them confess their sin, brought their transgression home to them, and then it is written, the Lord God made them coats of skin. Probably the coats were made of the skins of animals which had been offered in sacrifice, and, if so, they were a fit type of Him who has provided us with a sin-offering and a robe of perfect righteousness. Every man since the days of Adam has gone through much of the same experience, more or less relying on his own ingenuity to hide his own confusion of face. He has discovered that sin has made him naked, and he has set to work to clothe himself… But God has been pleased to deal with His own people, according to the riches of His grace; He has covered their shame and put away their sins that they should not be remembered any more.

May the Holy Spirit be pleased to give you discernment, that you may see your destitute state in the presence of God, and understand the merciful relief that God Himself has provided in the bounty of His grace! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3500.cfm

Courage from the “Hereafter.”

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

Nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64

Ah, LORD, You were in Your lowest state when before Your persecutors You were made to stand like a criminal! Yet the eyes of Your faith could see beyond Your present humiliation into Your future glory. What words are these, “Nevertheless – hereafter!” I would imitate Your holy foresight, and in the midst of poverty, or sickness, or slander, I also would say, “Nevertheless – hereafter.” Instead of weakness, You have all power; instead of shame, all glory; instead of derision, all worship, Your cross has not dimmed the splendor of Thy crown, neither has the spit marred the beauty of Your face. Rather, You are more exalted and honored because of Your sufferings.
So, LORD, I also would take courage from the “hereafter.” I would forget the present tribulation in the future triumph. Help me by directing me into the Father’s love and into Your own patience, so that when I am derided for Your name I may not be staggered but think more and more of the hereafter, and, therefore, all the less of today. I shall be with You soon and behold Thy glory. Wherefore, I am not ashamed but say in my inmost soul, “Nevertheless – hereafter.” ~ Charles Spurgeon | Faith’s Checkbook

This My Lord Knows

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God 25 Comments

“I know their sorrows.”-Exodus 3:7

The child is cheered as he sings, “This my father knows”; and shall not we be comforted as we discern that our dear Friend and tender soul-husband knows all about us?

He is the Physician, and if He knows all, there is no need that the patient should know. Hush, thou silly, fluttering heart, prying, peeping, and suspecting! What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter, and meanwhile Jesus, the beloved Physician, knows thy soul in adversities. Why need the patient analyze all the medicine, or estimate all the symptoms? This is the Physician’s work, not mine; it is my business to trust, and His to prescribe. If He shall write His prescription in uncouth characters which I cannot read, I will not be uneasy on that account, but rely upon His unfailing skill to make all plain in the result, however mysterious in the working.

He is the Master, and His knowledge is to serve us instead of our own; we are to obey, not to judge: “The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth.” Shall the architect explain his plans to every hodman on the works? If he knows his own intent, is it not enough? The vessel on the wheel cannot guess to what pattern it shall be conformed, but if the potter understands his art, what matters the ignorance of the clay? My Lord must not be cross-questioned any more by one so ignorant as I am.

He is the Head. All understanding centres there. What judgment has the arm? What comprehension has the foot? All the power to know lies in the head. Why should the member have a brain of its own when the head fulfils for it every intellectual office? Here, then, must the believer rest his comfort in sickness, not that he himself can see the end, but that Jesus knows all. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://bible.christiansunite.com/Morning_and_Evening/chme0814.shtml

The Luxury of Heaven

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

Blessed is the man that hungers and thirst to-day after righteousness, for he shall be filled. -Matthew 5:6

Today, beloved, some of us are hungering after holiness. Oh! what would I not give to be holy, to be rid of sin, of every evil thing about me! My eyes-ah! adieu sweet light, if I might also say, “Adieu sin! “My mouth-ah! well would I be content to be dumb if I might preach by a perfect life on earth! There is no faculty I know of that might not be cheerfully surrendered if the surrender of it would deprive us of sin. But they never thirst for holiness in heaven, for this excellent reason, that they are without fault before the throne of God. Does it not make your mouth water? Why this is the luxury of heaven to be perfect. Is not this-the heaven of heaven, to be clean rid of the root and branch of sin, and not a rag or bone, or piece of a bone of our old depravity left-all gone!- like our Lord, made perfect without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. And here, too, brethren and sisters, we very rightly hunger and thirst after full assurance and confidence. Many are hungering after it; they hope they are saved, and they thirst to be assured that they are. But there is no such thirst as that in heaven, for, having crossed the golden threshold of Paradise, no saint ever asks himself, “Am I saved?” They see His face without a cloud between; they bathe in the sea of His love; they cannot question that which they perpetually enjoy. So, too, on earth I hope we know what it is to hunger and thirst for fellowship with Christ. Oh! when He is gone from us-if He do but hide His face from us, how we cry, “My soul desires Thee in the night”! We cannot be satisfied unless we have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. But in heaven they have no such thing. There the Shepherd is always with the sheep, the King is ever near them, and because of His perpetual presence their hungering and their thirsting will be banished for ever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3499.cfm