prayer

Our Care of Christ’s Vine

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

Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear… – Song of Songs 7:12

Nearer the palace there were vineyards, and the spouse said, “Let us get up early to the vineyards.” Note, then, that the Church does her work at home as well as abroad. When she loves her Lord she works with zeal and she gets up early. All men in Holy Scripture who loved God much rose early to worship Him. We never read of one saint engaged upon sacred service who rose late. Abraham rose early. David rose early. Job rose early and so did they all…Notice God’s people, when they are awake, first look well to the Church. “Let us see if the vine flourishes.” The Church is Christ’s vine. Let us take stock of it. Beloved, we ought to be, each one of us, in a measure, pastors of the Church. Each must look after his brother and thus you must be pastors of one another. Watch over one another, pray for one another. How wonderful is the power of prayer! We do not know what blessings come from our prayers. Ten thousand darts might long ago have pierced the Lord’s elect were it not that the prayers of the saints are a shield over their heads, defending the sacramental host from harm.

Then the Church looks after the little ones. “Let us see if the vine flourishes, whether the tender grape appear.” No earnest Church forgets the children of her Sunday school and every other agency for the young will be sure to be well minded. An active Church seeks to bring Jesus among the children to see if the tender grapes appear. She pays her visits and performs her services, but always in His dear company. Helpers in the Sunday school and workers for Christ, I salute you! The Lord be with you. The Lord give you to see many tender grapes appearing and may this Church have joy of you as hundreds shall be converted to God by your instrumentality! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1066.cfm

“My Beloved, let us go.”

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises Leave a comment

And He said unto them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15

“Go you into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” There stand the orders! And when our largest enterprises shall have been fulfilled, we shall not have exceeded them. There is no exclusion put upon any tribe or clan. No classes are laid under ban, no individuals are exempted. Therefore, Church of Christ, by the love you bear to your crucified Master, by His wounds and death for you and by His living love to you, seek out the lost and gather together the outcasts! You fishers of men, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught! You sowers of holy seed, go abroad, and sow the untrodden wastes! You consecrated builders, break away from old foundations and lay fresh groundwork for a larger temple for your God and King!

Brothers and Sisters, if you serve the Lord Christ in breaking up fresh ground you may have to meet difficulties and make sacrifices, but they will be as nothing to you—you will welcome them for His dear sake! Am I stirring no hearts now? Has my finger touched no responsive strings? …Some Brother, some Sister —I know not to whom the prophetic word is coming—who is saying, “Lord, I am Your spouse. I will go forth with You into the field and I will lodge with You in the villages if there I may but glorify Your name.” …For our Master’s sake and in His strength and company we must compass sea and land for His redeemed ones! Only, if any of you go, do not try to go alone. Stop until you breathe the prayer, “My Beloved, let us go.” You go in vain when you go not with the Master, but when you have secured His company, then go and welcome, for you “shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1066.cfm

“What more can I do for Him?”

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises Leave a comment

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field… – Song of Songs 7:11

“Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field.” A loving Church spontaneously puts herself upon widened service. She has a large heart towards her Lord and longs to see Him reign over all mankind. She does not wait to hear, again and again, the Macedonian’s cry, “Come over and help us,” but she is prompt in mission enterprise. She does not tarry till she is forced by persecution to go abroad everywhere preaching the Word, but she sends forth her champions far and wide. As sure as ever she loves her Lord she asks herself the question, “What more can I do for Him?”

When she looks over the plot of ground which she has been tilling, she says, “It is not large enough! The harvest I can get out of this will not suffice me for my dear Lord.” And she says to Him, “Let me go to the regions beyond to break up the fallow ground and cause the wilderness to blossom.” Now, beloved members of this Church, do you not feel some such desire? It is upon my heart that we should be undertaking larger things for Christ. Keep up the old agencies by all manner of means—quicken them, strengthen them! But does not love suggest that as increasing years add increasing indebtedness to Christ—as we are always receiving fresh mercies, so we should make new and larger returns to our best Friend? If by us, as a Church, nothing new may be ventured, yet cannot each individual have his own plan and branch out afresh?…Enquire of Him (whom) you love and if your hearts are with Him, it will not be long before you will discover what He would have you do. The spouse, when she said, “Let us go forth into the field,” knew that the proposal would please her Lord for the nature of Christ is a large and loving one, and, therefore, He would bless the far-off ones. His is no narrow heart! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1066.cfm

A United Operation

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Come, my beloved, let us go forth to the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards… – Song of Songs 7:11,12

Consider once more that the love which is the great motive to Christian action is a love which looks to Jesus for united operation. It is, “Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us get up early to the vineyard.”…All is well when the Redeemer leads the way. Be not afraid, beloved, for you go in good Company. Who among us will be afraid to do anything or go anywhere if Jesus says, “I will go with you”? Such was the prayer the spouse put up, and doubtless she was led to pray for that which God will grant. Let us pray with her as she prayed. Come, Savior, come up with us to whatever we attempt for You! If there are any brethren here who are working away for You in dark places in London, dear Savior carry the lantern with them—be their Light! If they are digging for You and quarrying amidst granite rocks which refuse to yield to their strokes, come Almighty One and wield Your hammer and straightway the stones shall be broken! Come with us, Lord! This is the fellowship we desire of You—the fellowship of labor and of soul-winning. We would not only sit at Your feet to learn, but we would take up our cross and follow You! We would go with You where ever You go! We would fight, or labor, or suffer, or live, or die at Your bidding! Be this the fellowship You shall bestow upon us!

As a Church constituting a part of the Master’s field, we have had, for years, one continued harvest but still never such an one as has satisfied our spirits, for our idea of our King is such that the largest increase to His Church would not content us—we should still feel that our Lord Jesus deserved far more! As He has not yet seen of the travail of His soul so as to be satisfied, so neither are we, His servants, content on His behalf, but we long, and cry, and pray for a larger harvest as His reward for the dread sowings in bloody sweat and streams of vital blood of Gethsemane and Golgotha! I would urge you all to sharpen your sickles and with good hope and prayerful confidence prepare for the appointed weeks of our harvest! May God, by His Holy Spirit, inspire you with zeal for the work which awaits you and give you to walk in fellowship with Jesus in all that you do. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1066.cfm

Loved to Christ

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

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

“Venture on Him: venture wholly.
Let no other trust intrude.
None but Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good.”

But, Sinner, it is not a venture! As surely as you cast yourself upon Him, He will be sure to save you! I will not multiply words, but I would, if I thought words would draw you. I pray the blessed and eternal Spirit to sweetly influence your minds, young people, and old people, too, and middle-aged people, too—that you may have done with trying to do anything, or to be anything in order to your own salvation, and know that it was all done when Jesus bled and died, all finished when He cried, “It is finished!” You have only to take believingly what He presents to you and accept Him as your All in All. God help you to do it!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, if you really feel yourselves to have been outcasts and yet have been received into the Divine family—and are now on the road to Heaven—I ask you to pay every attention to any whom you meet with who are now what you once were! If you meet with any in great despair of soul, say, “Ah, I must be a comforter here, for I have gone through this. I will never let this poor soul go till, by God’s help, I have cheered him.” If you meet with one who is an open sinner, perhaps you will have to say to yourself, “I was an open sinner, too.” But if not, say, “My sins were more secret, but still they were as bad as his and, therefore, I have hope of this poor soul and will try whether he cannot be loved to Christ by me.” Mark my expression— “loved to Christ,” for that is the power we must use—sinners are to be loved to Christ!  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm

Outcasts, Jesus Christ Can Lift You Up!

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

The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. – Psalm 145:14

He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. The LORD lifteth up the meek… – Psalm 147:2,6

It is a great joy to me to know that our Lord Jesus Christ can save the most wicked of the wicked, the most fallen of the fallen, the most depraved of the depraved! If you have sunk so low that there is not much to choose between you and a devil—and some men and women do get as low as that—yet Jesus Christ can lift you up! If your life story is such that it would be a pity it should ever be told and most grievous that it should ever have been enacted, yet Jesus can wash all the stains of your life away and save you, even you!..Is there no helper on earth? Yet is there One in Heaven! Is there no friend below? Yet is there One above! Is there nothing that can save you? Do you contemplate suicide? Stop, stop your hand, for Jesus is “able to save to the uttermost”—to the uttermost— “them that come unto God by Him.” Let the prayer go up, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and go your way with hope in your soul, for “He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.” Come, then, Outcast! Come to your Redeemer and find pardon! “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as snow! Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool!” Jesus is able to wash away every transgression from those who are steeped in guilt. Countless iniquities dissolve and disappear before the presence of His mighty love, for He, even Jesus, gathers together the outcasts of Israel! You who have shut yourself out as an outcast, you shall be gathered! For whereas they call you an outcast, whom no man seeks after, you shall be called Hephzibah, for the Lord’s delight is in you! Only believe in Jesus Christ and cast yourself upon Him! Outcasts of this sort are the people who most gladly welcome Christ. People who have nowhere else to go but to Him—people so cast down, so full of sin, so everything but what they ought to be—these are the people to whom Christ is very precious! O outcast Soul, trust in Jesus and He will save you! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1302.cfm

Glorious Sights to See

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

“…He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me…” – John 16:13,14

May the Holy Spirit show unto you Gethsemane, and Gabbatha, and Golgotha! and then, may it please Him to give you a sight of what our Lord is now doing! Oh, how it would cheer you up at any time when you were depressed, only to see Him standing and pleading for you! Do you not think that if your wife is ill, and your child is sick, and there is scant food in the cupboard; if you were to go out at the back door, and you saw Him with the breastplate on, and all the stones glittering, and your name there, and Him pleading for you, you would go in and say, “There, wife, it is all right. He is praying for us”? Oh, it would be a comfort if the Holy Ghost showed you a pleading Christ!

Best of all, may the Holy Spirit give you a clear view of His coming. This is our most brilliant hope: “Lo, He cometh!” The more the adversary waxes bold, and the less of faith there is, and when zeal seems almost extinct, these are the tokens of His coming. The Lord always said so; and that He would not come unless there was a falling away first; and so, the darker the night grows, and the fiercer the storm becomes, the better will we remember that He of the lake of Galilee came to them upon the waves in the night when the storm was wildest. Oh, what will His enemies say when He comes? When they behold the nail-prints of the Glorified, and the Man with the thorn Crown-when they see Him really come-they that have despised His word, and His ever-blessed blood, how will they flee before that face of injured love! And we, on the contrary, through His infinite mercy, will say, “This is what the Holy Ghost showed us; and now we behold it literally. We thank Him for the foresights which He gave us of the beatific vision.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2213.cfm