“Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.” -Luke 14:27

“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” -Matthew 11:29

When we took Christ’s cross to be our salvation we took it also to be our heavenly burden  . When we yielded ourselves up to Christ to be saved by Him, we in spirit renounced every sin. We felt that we had come out from under the yoke of Satan, and that we made no reserve for the lusts of the flesh that we might obey them, but bowed our necks to the yoke of the Lord Jesus. We put ourselves into Christ’s hands unreservedly, and we said, “Lord, sanctify me, and then use me. Take my body and all its members; take my mind and all its faculties; take my spirit and all the new powers which thou hast bestowed upon me with it; and let all these be Thine. Reign in me; rule me absolutely, sovereignly, always and alone. I do not ask to be my own, for I am not my own, I am bought with a price.” After we have learned the grand truth that, “if one died for all, then all died,” we infer that “Christ died for all, that we that live might not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him that died for us, and rose again.” Are we not, then, to be true to this blessed compact? “I do remember my faults this day,” says one. Ay, but remember also the vows that still engage you. Do not desire to escape from the sacred bond. ‘This day remember the Lord to whom you dedicated yourself in the days of your youth, perhaps long years ago, and again entreat Him to take full possession of the purchased possession, and hold it against all comers, for ever. So it ought to be. He that says, “I am in Him” ought also so to walk even as He walked. Obey the sacrifice of Jesus, yield yourselves as living sacrifices; by your hope of being saved by Him put your whole being into His hands to love and serve Him all your days.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1732.cfm

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob… -Genesis 49:22-24

They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water…-Judges 5:11

It seems that archers and wells frequently go together. It was the blessing of Joseph-“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.” But what next? “The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him.” And so in the text: here are wells, but there is the noise of archers, which greatly disturbs those who go to draw water. Brethren and sisters-I think you know, but I will refresh your memories-you know what the noise of archers has been to you when you have tried to draw water. Years ago, with some of us, our sins were the archers that shot at us when we would fain come to Christ and drink of His salvation. When we bowed the knee in prayer, a fiery arrow would dart into our hearts-“How dare you pray? God heareth not sinners!” When we read the word of God, another barbed shaft would be shot against us-“What hast thou to do with God’s word? There can be no promise there for such as thou art. Knowest thou not that thou art a condemned sinner, and that book curses thee solemnly? Turn away from it, of what service can it be to thee?”

Ah! but beloved, you are delivered from the noise of archers now; your sins which are many, are forgiven you; now you can come to Jesus, now you can come to the ordinances, now you can read the Bible, now you can hear the word, and you find that God’s paths drop fatness… for you are accepted in the Beloved, justified by faith, and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0763.cfm

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. -Romans 10:9

A missionary was preaching to the Maori tribe of the New Zealanders. He had been telling them of the suffering love of Christ, how He had poured forth His soul unto death for them; and as he concluded, the hills rung to the thrilling question-“Is it nothing to any who pass by? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto His?” Then stood forth a plumed and painted chief, the scarred warrior of a thousand fights, and as his lips quivered with suppressed emotion, he spoke. “And did the Son of the Highest suffer all this for us men? Then the Indian chief would like to offer him some poor return for his great love. Would the Son of God deign to accept the Indian’s hunting dog? Swift of foot and keen of scent the tribe has not such another, and he has been to the Indian as a friend.” But the missionary told him that the Son of God had need of no such gifts as these. Thinking he had mistaken the gift he resumed-“Yet perchance He would accept the Indian’s rifle? Unerring of aim, the chief cannot replace it.” Again the missionary shook his head. For a moment the chief paused; then as a new thought struck him, suddenly despoiling himself of his striped blanket he cried with childlike earnestness, “Perhaps He who had not where to lay His head will yet accept the chieftain’s blanket. The poor Indian will be cold without it, yet it is offered joyfully.” Touched by love’s persistency, the missionary tried to explain to him the real nature of the Son of God; that it was not men’s gifts but men’s hearts that He yearned for. For a moment a cloud of grief darkened the granite features of the old chief; then as the true nature of the Son of God slowly dawned upon him, casting aside his blanket and rifle he clasped his hands, and looking right up into the blue sky, his face beaming with joy, he exclaimed-“Perhaps the Son of the Blessed One will deign to accept the poor Indian himself!”

Is that what you say this morning? You would give Christ this, and that, and the other. Soul, give Him your heart. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0400.cfm

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. -Hosea 6:1

The wounds which you now feel He made Himself, and if He is willing to heal any wounds, how much more those that He has Himself made…The text I read as a promise. It looks at first sight as if it were spoken by man, and so it is; but then inasmuch as it is put in God’s book as the utterance of God’s inspired prophet, it is a part of God’s word, and it is warranted to be most true. “He hath torn and He will heal.” Go and put your finger on this text and say, “Lord, Thou hast torn me, and it is written in Thy word, ‘He will heal us;'”

“Lord, I know Thou canst not lie,
Heal my soul or else I die.”

Put you your finger on the text-“He will bind us up.” Say, “Lord, I do not deserve it; I deserve only to perish, but then Thou hast said Thou wilt do it, be as good as Thy word. Lord, here is a poor sinner near despair, he comes to Thee, bind up his broken heart; give him peace;”-and soul, the everlasting hills shall bow, the hoary deep shall itself be burned up, and earth’s foundation shall be removed, but God’s word shall never pass away, nor shall His promise fail in one single case. Only believe the promise; receive the promise, and this very day, poor broken heart, He will heal thy wounds, and thou shalt have joy and peace in believing through Jesus Christ our Lord. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0400.cfm

And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. – John 16:22

Yes, beloved, He can, at this moment, turn your sorrows into joys. If you have a great lump of sorrow, you will have a great lump of joy, for He turns it all into joy. One touch of His finger can turn the granite stones into gold; bring them to His feet; ask Him to do it, and you shall be rich in joy.  Well, if it is not done at once, it will be done before long. It sometimes takes a little time for a sorrow to turn into a joy. It is rather an odd figure of Cowper’s, but it is a true one: The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

It takes a little time for our bitters to bloom out into sweetness, but they will. If you are praying for your dear child, praying for his conversion but do not see it, yet pray on, for your sorrow will be turned into joy. If you are in great trouble about your husband, or your brother, or your friend, whose conversion you are seeking, strive on still, for it will come. One day you shall have the joy of your heart, and your sorrow shall be turned into joy. And that trial you are laboring under just now — don’t faint under it; wait a little. It is a rough wind, but it is blowing you towards the port. It is a rough wave, but it is washing you on to the rock. It is not today that you will see it, nor tomorrow; but afterwards, and by-and-bye it will bring forth the comfortable fruits of righteousness, and you will rejoice. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.gracegems.org/Spurgeon/from_sorrow_to_joy.htm