promises

Trust the Merciful God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate. – Psalm 34:22

…when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God… – Romans 1:21

In revelation God has presented Himself as the object of trust to His creatures, and He has promised that all who trust in Him shall be forgiven their transgressions through the atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. Such as trust Him He declares shall be saved; and he sends out a messenger of mercy to all mankind, proclaiming-“He that believeth in Him is not condemned.” He bids sinners come and trust under the shadow of His wing; and He declares that none that come to Him will ever be cast out. Revealing Himself in Christ Jesus, He pleads with guilty men. Asking nothing of them, He entreats them to accept His mercy, which He freely presents to them without money and without price. Making no distinction in the gospel-call, He bids men come to Him, saying, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there is none else.” When proud man replies, “No, I shall trust in myself, trust in my own works, trust in my own prayers, but I shall not trust in Christ,” then he knows God, but he glorifies him not as God, and when he perishes he will be without excuse. What kind of God is that whom we will not trust? How do we honour Him when we refuse to believe Him? Do we accept His Godhead, and yet refuse His mercy? This cannot be. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Every Mercy Brings An Obligation With It

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful… – Romans 1:21

Are there not many rich men to whom it never occurs to feel bound to serve the Lord who gave them power to get wealth? Are there not many healthy persons, sound of limb, and strong in constitution, who yet do not praise the God who has kept them from sickness and death? Are any of us sufficiently grateful for our talents, our faculties, our friends, our daily provisions? Do we not all receive a large amount of blessing for which we do not render praise to God? The fact that every mercy brings an obligation with it, and we that receive most ought to render most; for we receive nothing from God without being thereby naturally and of right laid under bonds to return to Him the glory due unto His name. We are tenants, whose rent is to be paid in service and praise. It is a very blessed obligation! It is a happy bond to be bound to praise and bless God! Praise is no more a burden to a true heart than song to a bird, or perfume to a flower, or twinkling to a star. Adoration is no taxation. God’s revenue of glory comes from myriads of free-will offerings, which gracious spirits delight to present to Him all their days. Yet there are some who know God, but they glorify Him not as God: they rob Him of that which it should be their life to bring. They seem to say that they are their own, and not God’s: they may live as they please; they may serve themselves.

God grant us grace to avoid this cruel provocation, and may we glorify God as God by practically owning the obligation under which His mercy places us. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Give Him Thanks

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

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights… – James 1:17

We know God, but I am afraid that there are many thousands and millions of our fellow-creatures who glorify Him not as God; let us see to it that we do not ourselves belong to the unhappy number…Yes, and we have among us men who talk neither of “fortune” nor of “Nature,” but of themselves. They are styled “self-made men,” and they are very prone to worship the great self who made them: they are never backward in that cult. Their adoration of themselves is constant, reverent, and sincere. “Self-made men,” indeed! Infinitely better is it to be a God-made man. If there be anything about us that is worth the having, it must be from Him from whom every good gift and every perfect gift has evermore descended; let us therefore give Him thanks. There is no other sun for our sky than (His) sun in the heavens: there is no other source of good but the ever-blessed God, who has made Himself known to us, whom with all our hearts we now adore.

But may I not be addressing some who, at this moment, do not bow before God, and bless Him for their prosperity? They attribute it to their industry, and to their good luck. Oh, sirs, you come under the head of those who know God, and yet do not glorify Him as God; neither are you thankful. The Lord help such to confess this sin, and may His grace wash them clean of it, for indeed it is a great and heinous sin in the judgment of the Most High. Justice makes a black mark against those who do not ascribe their good things to God, from whom they flow with such sweet constancy of kindness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1763.cfm

Certain Answered Prayers

Sherry Attributes of God, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. – Isaiah 65:24

God will hear the cry of your desire, but the hand into which He will put the mercy is the hand of your expectation. You must believe that you have the blessing, or you will not have it unless it be by some extraordinary mercy beyond what is promised. His usual way is to raise our expectations so that we look out for the favour, and then He sends it. If some people looked out for answers to prayer they might soon have them, for their prayers would be answered by themselves. I was reminded of that by a little boy whose father prayed in the family that the Lord would visit the poor and relieve their wants. When he had finished, his little boy said, “Father, I wish I had your money.” “Why so?” “Because,” he said, “I would answer your prayers for you.” “Which prayers, John?” “Why, father, you prayed that the poor might be helped, and you could do it very well with your own money.” I like better still that story of the good man at the prayer-meeting, who reading the list of prayers found one for a poor widow that her distress might be relieved, so he began to read it, but stopped and added, “we won’t trouble the Lord with that, I will attend to that myself.” Numbers of prayers are of that kind: we are praying God to do what we ought to do ourselves, and that is sheer impertinence. If we really prayed in earnest, expecting to be heard, our answer would often come in this very way, by our being stirred up to see that the Lord had heard us. The Lord might well say to us, “Thou sayest, Thy kingdom come; arise and help to make My kingdom come! Thou askest that My name may be hallowed; go thyself and hallow My name.” Oh, that we had the expectancy which would teach us practical action, so that we should find the answer to our prayer given before we asked, according to the promise, “Before they call I will answer them, and while they are yet speaking I will hear.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm

Expectancy

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

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. – 1 John 5:15

I was awakened at about four o’clock this morning by a sharp shrill sound. I thought it was a swallow screaming by the window, and I fell asleep again. A young bird had found its way into my room, and was crying for liberty. I left my bed and opened the window to let the captive free. It did not seem to know its way, and so I caught it and gently placed it at the window, and in a moment it flew to the oak tree close by and sat itself down. I watched its movement. The moment it had perched itself comfortably it began to utter sharp cries, and it turned its little head round on all sides as if looking for some one. It was crying for its mother, and why? Because it expected to be fed. And why did it expect to be fed? Because it had been fed before. If it had been a full-grown bird, it would not have called for food, but would have helped itself; but this poor little creature had been nourished by its parents, and it was looking round to be supplied again. This is why we pray.

O Lord, thou hast supplied our wants so long and so often in answer to prayer, that we are in the way of it; and now we pray, not only because we ought to do so, but because it has become natural to us to pray, and we expect Thee to hear us. When Thou dost hear us we bless Thee, but we are not surprised, as though it were a strange thing. Thy truth causes great admiration but no astonishment, for it is like Thee to keep thy word, We are poor dependent children, and Thou a wise and tender Father; Thou has never left us and Thou wilt never leave us, and so we continue instant in prayer, because we are expectant of Thy grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm

Real Prayers are Constant Prayers

Sherry Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

Pray without ceasing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Real prayers are constant prayers…Beware of prayers which leap up like a grasshopper and are soon down again. Let your prayers have the wings of a dove, let them fly away from earth and rest in God. Hypocrites pray by fits and starts, the genuine Christian “prays without ceasing.”

Beware of judging yourselves by certain spasms of prayer. When I put my lamp out last night, as I thought, it flashed up, then went down again, and yet again flashed up; it did so many times, as I stood waiting, but I knew it must go out ere long. Some have a way of flashing a prayer or two, but their piety is only a dying light, it will all be over soon. Continue instant in prayer, it shall be the test of whether your prayer is a lamp of the Lord or a dying light of your own kindling.

Beloved, we must continue in prayer, but the Holy Spirit alone can enable us to do it. We may, however, be much helped in it by occasionally setting apart a special time. Days of prayer and hours of prayer, and set seasons of prayer are very helpful. We ought to have our appointed seasons each day, but special times over and above our regular custom may stir the fire and enable it to burn more brightly. To unite with other Christians in prayer is often very helpful. Private prayer is more important than public prayer under any aspects, and is a better test of a Christian; still public prayer often reacts upon private devotion, and when two or three are together, and are agreed as touching the kingdom, their supplications will often be helpful to each other and obtain the thing which they desire. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm

Groanings

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. – Romans 8:26

Pray when you can pray, and pray when you cannot pray. “Alas, sir, I cannot get beyond a groan.” Brother, be not distressed, for the best praying in all the world consists of “groanings that cannot be uttered.” We may sometimes have a doubt whether the Spirit of God helps us to pray in cheerful prayers, though I do not say that there is any need for the doubt,-but we cannot have a question about our sad prayings, for it is expressly said He “maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Do you think that the chief end of a Christian’s life is to be comfortable? It is often more good to us to mourn like doves than to sing like nightingales. Sometimes there may be more prayer in a sigh than in a long oration. Often do I myself personally look back upon times of bondage when I cried to God with all my soul, and thought I did not pray, and I wish that I prayed now as I did then. Therefore always pray; whether you feel in a mind for prayer or not, still pray. The fisherman at Mentone keep on fishing with their great net; ay, by the score these fishermen take it out and haul it in again, and frequently they get no more than one little sardine for their pains. Many and many a time I have seen no more than they could hold in their hand as the produce of a net which covered acres of the sea. But why do they go on? Because they are fishermen, and cannot do anything else. You and I are praying men, and there is nothing else we can do but wait upon the Lord. So if, after many a throw of the net, we get but one small answer, we will try again, for this is all we can do. “Lord, to whom should we go but Thee?” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1480.cfm