prayer

Be Noted for Your Boldness

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

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word. -Acts 4:29

Jesus Christ and His disciples were noted for their courage…Jesus Christ never fawned upon the rich; He stooped not to the great and noble; He stood erect, a man before men-the prophet of the people; speaking out boldly and freely what He thought…. faithfully He proclaimed what He knew to be the truth of God…If He saw a Scribe or a Pharisee in the congregation, He did not keep back part of the price, but pointing His finger, He said, “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites;” and when a lawyer came, saying, “Master, in speaking thus, thou condemnest us also;” He turned round and said “Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye bind heavy burdens upon men, while ye yourselves will not touch them with so much as one of your fingers.” He dealt out honest truth; He never knew the fear of man; He trembled at none; He stood out as God’s chosen, whom He had anointed above His fellows, careless of man’s esteem.

My friends, be like Christ in this. Have none of the time-serving religion of the present day, which is merely exhibited in evangelical drawing-rooms,-a religion which only flourishes in a hot-bed atmosphere, a religion which is only to be perceived in good company. No; if ye are the servants of God, be like Jesus Christ, bold for your Master; never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you; take care you never disgrace that. Your love to Christ will never dishonor you; it may bring some temporary slight from your friends, or slanders from your enemies; but live on, and you shall live down their calumnies; live on, and ye shall stand amongst the glorified, honored even by those who hissed at you, when He shall come to be glorified by His angels, and admired by them that love Him. Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God, so that when they shall see your boldness, they may say, “He has been with Jesus.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Sinner, Receive the Free Pardon

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

He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. -Job 33:27-28

This is a word of truth, gathered from the experience of a man of God, and it is tantamount to a promise. What the Lord has done, and is doing, He will continue to do while the world standeth. The Lord will receive into His bosom all who come to Him with a sincere confession of their sin; in fact, He is always on the lookout to discover any that are in trouble because of their faults.

Can we not endorse the language here used? Have we not sinned, sinned personally so as to say, “I have sinned”? Sinned willfully, having perverted that which is right? Sinned so as to discover that there is no profit in it but an eternal loss? Let us, then, go to God with this honest acknowledgment. He asks no more. We can do no less.

Let us plead His promise in the name of Jesus. He will deliver us from the pit of hell which yawns for us; He will grant us life and light. Why should we despair? Why should we even doubt? The Lord does not mock humble souls. He means what He says. The guilty can be forgiven. Those who deserve execution can receive free pardon. Lord, we confess, and we pray Thee to forgive! ~C.H. Spurgeon

http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml

‘Tis Mine to Obey, ‘Tis His to Provide

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

But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. -Matthew 6:33

When a man is anxious he cannot pray; when he is troubled about the world he cannot serve his Master, he is serving himself. If you could “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” beloved, “all things would then be added to you.” What a noble Christian you would be; how much more honorable you would be to Christ’s religion; and how much better you could serve Him.

“‘Tis mine to obey, ’tis His to provide”

You have been meddling with Christ’s business, you have been leaving your own; you have been trying the “providing” part and leaving the “obeying?” to somebody else. Now, you take the obeying part, and let Christ manage the providing. Come then, brethren, doubting and fearful ones, come and see your Father’s storehouse, and ask whether He will let you starve while He has stored away such plenty in His garner! Come and look at His heart of mercy, see if that will ever fail! Come and look at His inscrutable wisdom and see if that will ever go amiss: Above all, look up there to Jesus Christ your intercessor, and ask yourself, “while He pleads, can my Father forget me?” And if He remembers even sparrows, will He forget one of the least of His poor children? “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He will sustain thee,” “He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0033.cfm

Our Faith is God’s Work

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

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith -Hebrews 12:2

It is God’s work to feed faith, as well as to give it life at first; and if any of you desire to have a growing faith, go and take your burden this morning to God’s throne, crying “Lord, increase our faith!” If you feel that your troubles have been increased, go to the Lord, and say, “increase our faith!” If your money is accumulating, go to the Lord, and say, “Increase our faith;” for you will want more faith as you get more prosperity. If your property is diminishing, go to Him, and say, “increase our faith,” so that what you lose in one scale you may gain in the other. Are you sickly and full of pain this morning? Go to your Master, and say, “increase my faith,’ so that you may not be impatient, but be able to bear it well.” Are you tired and weary? Go and supplicate, “Increase our faith!” Have you little faith? Take it to God, and He will turn it into great faith. There is no hot-house for growing tender plants in, like a house that is within the curtains-the tabernacle of God, where the Shekinah dwelleth.

Let each one ask himself, Do I not want more faith? My brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, rest assured, you will never get too much of this precious grace. If you pay all the way to heaven, you will never have a penny to spare when you get to heaven’s gate, if you live on faith all your journey through, you will not have a pot of manna left. Pray, then, for an increase of faith. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0032.cfm

Increase Our Faith

Sherry Christian Life, prayer 3 Comments

And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. -Luke 17:5

Take care of your faith, my friends; for it’s very often so weak, that it demands all your attention. I do not know whether any of you feel that your faith is too strong; but I never feel mine strong enough. It seems to be exactly strong enough to bear the day’s troubles, but it would not stand cutting in the least degree with the plane. I could not afford to take the least atom off; it is just enough, and no more. As for some of us, our faith is so weak that the least trouble threatens to devour it. The goat passes and nips its tender shoot, the winter chills and freezes it; it is almost ready to die. And my faith very often hangs upon the feeblest thread; it appears ready to expire. Take care of your faith, Christian take care of your faith whatever you leave out of doors of a night, do not leave that little child of faith, whatsoever plant is exposed to the frost, be sure to put faith within. Take care of faith, for it is so weak generally, it needs well to have a good preservation.

Napoleon once said, “I must fight battles, and I must win them: conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me.” And it is so with the Christian… The Christian must be going onward; for the arrow will mount while still it is in progress, but it stalls the moment the power stops that keeps it aloft. So the apostle said unto the Lord, “increase our faith.” ~ C,H, Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0032.cfm

Watch Well Thy Faith

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Father 2 Comments

Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. -Matthew 21:22

If we want blessings from God, nothing can fetch them down except faith. Prayer cannot draw down answers from God’s throne except it is the earnest prayer of the man who believes. Faith is the ladder on which my soul must walk to ascend to heaven. If I break that ladder how can I ever approach my God? Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and heaven. Let that angel be withdrawn, I can neither send prayer up nor receive the answers down. Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth and heaven-on which God’s blessings move so fast that before we call He answers, and while we are yet speaking He hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we receive the promise? Am I in trouble: I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about by the enemy: my soul on that dear refuge leans by faith. But, take faith away-in vain I call to God. There is no road betwixt my soul and heaven. In the deepest winter time faith is a road on which the horses of prayer may travel-ay, and all the better for the biting frost! But blockade the road, and how can we communicate with our great king? Faith links me with divinity. Faith clothes me with the robes of deity. Faith engages on my side the omnipotence of Jehovah. Faith gives me the might of God; for it ensures that power on my behalf. It gives me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything of the Lord? Let not him that wavereth-who is like a wave of the sea-expect that he will receive anything of God! O then, Christians watch well thy faith; for with it thou canst win all things, however poor thou art, but without it thou canst obtain nothing. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0032.cfm

Saved By Faith

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

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: -John 3:36

Faith is the salvation-grace. We are not saved by love; but we are saved by grace, and we are saved by faith. We are not saved by courage, we are not saved by patience; but we are saved by faith. That is to say, God gives His salvation to faith and not to any other virtue. It is nowhere written, he that loveth shall be saved. It is nowhere recorded that a patient sinner shall be saved. But it is said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Faith is the vital part of salvation. If a man lacks faith he lacks everything. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” If a man has true faith, however little he has of any other virtue, that man is secure. But supposing it possible for a man to possess every virtue in the world, let him be as much a Christian in his exterior; the apostle Paul himself; let him be as earnest as a seraph; let him be as diligent in the service of his Master as you could conceive even an angel on high to be, still “Without faith”-so God’s Word declares-“it is impossible to please God.” Faith is the saving grace-it is the connecting link between the soul and Christ. Take that away and all is gone. Remove faith, you have sawn through the ship’s keel, and she must sink. Take away faith, you have taken away my shield and I must be slain. Remove faith, and Christian life becomes a nonentity: it is extinct at once, for “the just shall live by faith:” and without faith how could they live at all? Consider then, that since faith is so important in salvation, it becomes each of us more earnestly to inquire whether we have faith or not? O, my brethren, there are a thousand shams in the world-a thousand imitations of faith; but there is only one true vital saving faith. There are scores of notional faiths: a faith which consists in holding a sound creed, a faith which bids men believe a lie by wrapping them up with assurances of their safety, when they are still in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity, a faith which consists in presumptuously trusting to ourselves. There are scores of false faiths but there is only one true one. Oh! as ye wish to be saved at last, as ye would not be self-deceived and go marching to damnation with your eyes shut, take your faith in your hand this morning and see whether it is genuine sterling coin. We ought to be more careful of our faith than of anything else. True, we ought to examine our conduct, we ought to search our works, we ought to try our love, but, above all, our faith: for if faith be wrong all is wrong; if faith be right, we may take that as the touchstone of our sincerity. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life abiding in him.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0032.cfm