promises

Keep Close to Christ

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 3 Comments

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  – John 10:3

It is the children’s wise rule: “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” Oh, blessed shall they be above many of whom it shall be said, “These are they that have not defiled their garments.” “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” Some of His followers are not very scrupulous. They love Him. It is not for us to judge them. Rather we place ourselves among them and share in the censure. But happiest of all the happy are they who see the footprint—the print of that foot that once was pierced with the nail—and put their foot down where He placed it, and then again, in the selfsame mark, follow where He trod, till they climb at last to the throne. Keep close to Christ; take care of His little precepts unto the end. Remember, “Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, He shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.” Do not peril being least in the heavenly kingdom though it is better to be that than to be greatest in the kingdom of darkness. O seek to be very near Him, to be a choice sheep in His chosen flock, and to have the mark distinctly upon your foot!

I will not stay to apply these truths, but leave each one of you to make such self-searching enquiries as the text suggests. Have I the ear mark? Have I the foot mark? “My sheep hear My voice,” “and they follow Me.” I hope that I am among the number. ! C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

Twice Marked

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

And when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. -John 10:4

Our Savior marks us. It has been very properly observed, that there are two marks on Christ’s sheep. One is on their ear, the other is on their foot. The mark on the ear: “My sheep hear My voice.”The mark on the foot: “I know them, and they follow Me.”

Now, the spiritual ear listens to God. The opening of it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and this is a mark of Christ’s chosen blood-bought people, that they hear not only the hollow sound, but the hidden sense; not the bare letter, but the spiritual lesson; and that, too, not merely with the outward organ, but with the inward heart. The chief point is that they hear His voice.

Christ has marked His sheep on their feet as well as their ears. They follow Him: they are gently led, not harshly driven. They follow Him as the Captain of their salvation; they trust in the power of His arm to clear the way for them. All their trust on Him is stayed; all their hope on Him they lean. They follow Him as their teacher; they call no man “Rabbi” under heaven, but Christ alone…And the sheep of Christ follow Him as their example; they desire to be in this world as He was. It is one of their marks, that to a greater or less degree they have a Christ-like spirit; and if they could they would be altogether like their Lord. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

His Own Alone

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, salvation 3 Comments

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack. – Psalm 23:1

“My Shepherd,” let us one and all reply. All the sheep of Christ who have been redeemed by His power, become His by their own willing and cheerful surrender of themselves to Him. We would not belong to another if we might; nor would we wish to belong to ourselves if we could; nor, I trust, do we want any part of ourselves to be our own property. Judge ye whether this be true of you or not. In that day when I surrendered my soul to my Savior, I gave Him my body, my soul, my spirit; I gave Him all I had, and all I shall have for time and for eternity. I gave Him all my talents, my powers, my faculties, my eyes, my ears, my limbs, my emotions, my judgment, my whole manhood, and all that could come of it, whatever fresh capacity or new capability I may be endowed with. Were I at this good hour to change the note of gladness for one of sadness, it should be to wail out my penitent confession of the times and circumstances in which I have failed to observe the strict and unwavering allegiance I owe to my Lord. So far from regretting, I would fain renew my vows and make them over again. In this I think every Christian would join.

“‘Tis done!

the great transaction’s done:

I am my Lord’s, and He is mine:

He drew me, and I follow’d on,

Charm’d to confess the voice divine.

Now rest, my long-divided heart;

Fix’d on this blissful center, rest:

With ashes who would grudge to part,

When call’d on angels’ bread to feast?

High heaven, that heard the solemn vow,

That vow renew’d shall daily hear:

Till in life’s latest hour I bow,

And bless in death a bond so dear.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

Our Father’s Love

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Father 4 Comments

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. -Hebrews 13:20-21

As well by power are we redeemed as by price, for the blood-bought sheep had gone astray even as others. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,” but, my brethren, the good shepherd has brought many of us back with infinite condescension: with boundless mercy He followed us when we went astray. Oh, what blind slaves we were when we sported with death! We did not know then what His love had ordained for us: it never entered our poor, silly heads that there was a crown for us; we did not know that the Father’s love had settled itself on us, or ever the day-star knew its place. We know it now, and it is He that has taught us; for He followed us over mountains of vanity, through bogs and miry places of foul transgression; tracked our devious footsteps on and on, through youth and manhood, till at last, with mighty grace, He grasped us in His arms and laid us on His shoulder, and is this day carrying us home to the great fold above, rejoicing as He bears all our weight and finds us in all we need. Oh, that blessed work of effectual grace! He has made us His own, He has defeated the enemy, the prey has been taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive has been delivered. “He hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron asunder,” to set His people free. “O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

His Forever

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

Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved me before the creation of the world. – John 17:24

How came the saints to be Christ’s?

They are His because He chose them. Ere the worlds were made, out of all the rest of mankind He selected them. He knew the race would fall, and become unworthy of the faculties with which He endowed them, and the inheritance He had assigned them. To Him belonged the sovereign prerogative that He might have mercy on whom He would have mercy; and He, out of His own absolute will, and according to the counsel of His own good pleasure, made choice severally and individually of certain persons, and He said, “These are mine.” Their names were written in His book: they became His portion and His heritage. Having chosen them of old so many ages ago, rest assured He will not lose them now. Men prize that which they have long had. If there is a thing that was mine but yesterday, and it is lost today, I might not fret about it; but if I have long possessed it, and called it my patrimony, I would not willingly part with it. Sheep of Christ, ye shall be His for ever, because ye have been His from ever. They are Christ’s sheep, because His Father gave them to Him. They were the gift of the Father to Christ. He often speaks of them in this way. “As many as Thou hast given Me:” “Thou hast given them Me,” saith He, over and over again. Of old, the Father gave His people to Christ. Separating them from among men, He presented them to Him as a gift, committed them into His hand as a trust, and ordained them for Him as the lot of His inheritance. Thus they become a token of the Father’s love to His only begotten Son, a proof of the confidence He reposed in Him, and a pledge of the honor that shall be done unto Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

Our Good Shepherd

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

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. – John 10:14

Sheep are silly creatures, and in this respect likewise we are very sheepish. We meekly own it to Him who is ready to guide us. We say, as David said, “O God, Thou knowest my foolishness;” and He says to us as He said to David, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.” If Christ were not our wisdom, we should soon fall a prey to the destroyer. Every grain of true wisdom that we possess we have derived from Him; of ourselves we are dull and giddy; folly is bound up in our heart…He discerns you as you are, claims you as His own, foresees all the ills to which you are exposed, yet tends you as His flock, sets store by every lamb of the fold, and so feeds you according to the integrity of His heart, and guides you by the skillfulness of His hands. “I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down,” saith the Lord God. Oh, what sweet music there is to us in the name which is given to our Lord Jesus Christ of “the good Shepherd”! It not only describes the office He holds, but it sets forth the sympathy He feels, the aptness He shows, and the responsibility He bears to promote our well-being. What if the sheep be weak, yet is the shepherd strong to guard His flock from the prowling wolf or the roaring lion. If the sheep suffer privation because the soil is barren, yet is the shepherd able to lead them into pasturage suitable for them. If they be foolish, yet He goes before them, cheers them with His voice, and rules them with the rod of His command.

That I am like a sheep is a sorry reflection; but that I have a shepherd charms away the sorrow and creates a new joy.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

We Are Like Sheep

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

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.-John 10:27

Christians are here compared to sheep. Not a very flattering comparison you may say; but then we do not wish to be flattered, nor would our Lord deem it good to flatter us, While far from flattering, it is, however, eminently consoling, for of all creatures there are not any more compassed about with infirmity than sheep. In this frailty of their nature they are a fit emblem of ourselves, at least, of so many of us as have believed in Jesus and become His disciples. Let others boast how strong they are; yet if there be strong ones anywhere, certainly we are weak. We have proved our weakness, and day by day we lament it. We do confess our weakness; yet may we not repine at it, for, as Paul said, so we find, when we are weak then are we strong. Sheep have many wants, yet they are very helpless, and quite unable to provide for themselves. But for the shepherd’s cure they would soon perish. This, too, is our case. Our spiritual needs are numerous and pressing, Yet we cannot supply any of them. We are travelers through a wilderness that yields us neither food nor water. Unless our bread drop down from heaven, and our water flow out of the living rock, we must die. Our weakness and our want we keenly feel: still we have no cause to murmur, since the Lord knows our poor estate, and succours us with the tenderest care.

The more conscious you are, dear brethren, of your own deficiencies, your lack of stamina, discretion, sagacity, and all the instincts of self-preservation, the more delighted you will be to see that the Lord accepts you under these conditions, and calls you the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html