promises

Your Sin or Christ?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. – Matthew 27:16,17,20

Barabbas-a thief, a felon, a murderer, a traitor, had been captured; he was probably one of a band of murderers who were accustomed to come up to Jerusalem at the time of the feast, carrying daggers under their cloaks to stab persons in the crowd, and rob them, and then he would be gone again; besides that, he had tried to stir up sedition, setting himself up possibly as a leader of banditti. Christ was put into competition with this villain; the two were presented before the popular eye, and to the shame of manhood, to the disgrace of Adam’s race, let it be remembered that the perfect, loving, tender, sympathizing, disinterested Savior was met with the word, “Crucify Him!” and Barabbas, the thief, was preferred. “Well,” says one, “that was atrocious.” The same thing is put before you -the very same thing; and every unregenerate man will make the same choice that the Jews did, and only men renewed by grace will act upon the contrary principle. I say, friend, this day I put before you Christ Jesus, or your sins. The reason why many come not to Christ is because they cannot give up their lusts, their pleasures, their profits. Sin is Barabbas; sin is a thief; it will rob your soul of its life; it will rob God of His glory. Sin is a murderer; it stabbed our father, Adam; it slew our purity. Sin is a traitor; it rebels against the king of heaven and earth. If you prefer sin to Christ, Christ has stood at your tribunal, and you have given in your verdict that sin is better than Christ. 

You cannot be willing to come to Christ, and yet Christ reject you. God forbid we should suppose the possibility of any sinner crying after the Savior, and the Savior saying, “No, I will not have you.” Blessed be His name! “Him that cometh to Me,” He says, “I will in no wise cast out.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

Will You Behold Your King?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

And they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him: and the third day He shall rise again. – Mark 10:34

The Jews no doubt having bribed the soldiers to excessive zeal of scorn, a second time (oh! mark this; perhaps ye thought this happened only once! this is the fifth time He has thus been treated) the soldiers took Him back again, and once more they mocked Him, once more they spat upon Him, and treated Him shamefully. So, you see, there was once when He first went to the house of Caiaphas; then after He was condemned there; then Herod and his men of war; then Pilate after the scourging; and then the soldiers, after the ultimate condemnation. See ye not how manifestly “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Oh, that I could set forth Thy grief, Thou Man of Sorrows! God the Holy Ghost impress it on your memories and on your souls and help you pitifully to consider the griefs of your blessed Lord.

You must this day accept Christ as your King, or else His blood will be on you. I bring my Master out before your eyes, and say to you, “Behold your King.” Are you willing to yield obedience to Him? He claims first your implicit faith in His merit: will you yield to that? He claims, next, that you will take Him to be Lord of your heart, and that, as He shall be Lord within, so He shall be Lord without. Which shall it be? Will you choose Him now? Does the Holy Spirit in your soul-for without that you never will-does the Holy Spirit say, “Bow the knee, and take Him as your king?” Thank God, then. But if not, His blood is on you, to condemn you. Pilate, Caiaphas, Herod, the Jews and Romans, all meet in you. You scourged Him; you said, “Let Him be crucified.” Do not say it was not so. In effect you join their clamours when you refuse Him; when you go your way to your farm and to your merchandise, and despise His love and His blood, you do spiritually what they did literally-you despise the King of kings. Come to the fountain of His blood, and wash and be clean. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

The Doctrine of the Cross Must Be True

Sherry Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us… – John 1:14

And some began to spit on Him, and to cover His face, and to buffet Him, and to say unto Him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike Him with the palms of their hands. – Mark 14:65

We have pictures drawn from imagination; we have been enchanted along romantic pages, and we have marvelled at the creative flights of human genius; but where did you ever read such a thought as this? “God was made flesh and dwelt among us”-He was despised, scourged, mocked, treated as though He were the offscouring of all things, brutally treated, worse than a dog, and all out of pure love to His enemies. Why, the thought is such a great one, so God-like, the compassion in it is so divine, that it must be true. None but God could have thought of such a thing as this stoop from the highest throne in glory to the cross of deepest shame and woe. And do you think that if the doctrine of the cross were not true, such effects would follow from it? Would those South Sea Islands, once red with the blood of cannibalism, be now the abode of sacred song and peace? Would this island, once itself the place of naked savages, be what it is, through the influence of the benign gospel of God, if that gospel were a lie? Ah! hallowed mistake, indeed, to produce such peaceful, such blessed, such lasting, such divine results! Ah! He is God. The thing is not false. And that He is Messiah, who shall doubt? If God should send a prophet, what better prophet could you desire? What character would you seek to have exhibited more completely human and divine? What sort of a Savior would you wish for? What could better satisfy the cravings of conscience? Who could commend himself more fully to the affections of the heart? He must be, we feel at once, as we see Him, one alone by Himself, with no competitor; He must be the Messiah of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

This Deep Silence

Sherry Character of Jesus, promises Leave a comment

But Jesus held His peace. – Matthew 26:63

Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. – John 18:20

The high priest asked Him concerning His doctrine-what it was that He taught-whether what He taught was not in contradiction to the original teachings of their great law-giver Moses-and whether He had not railed at the Pharisees, reviled the Scribes, and exposed the rulers. The Master gave a noble answer. Truth is never shamefaced; He boldly points to His public life as His best answer. “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou Me? ask them which heard Me, what I have said unto them: behold they know what I said.” No sophistries-no attempt at evasion-the best armor for truth is her own naked breast. He had preached in the market-places, on the mountain’s brow, and in the temple courts; nothing had been done in a corner. Happy is the man who can make so noble a defense. Little did that arch-knave Caiaphas gain by his crafty questioning. For the rest of the questioning, our Lord Jesus said not a word in self-defense; He knew that it availed not for a lamb to plead with wolves; He was well aware that whatever He said would be misconstrued and made a fresh source of accusation, and He willed, moreover, to fulfill the prophecy, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” But what power He exerted in thus remaining silent! Perhaps nothing displays more fully the omnipotence of Christ, than this power of self-control. Control the Deity? What power less than divine can attempt the task? Behold, my brethren, the Son of God does more than rule the winds and command the waves, He restrains Himself. And when a word, a whisper, would have refuted His foes, and swept them to their eternal destruction, He “openeth not His mouth.” If ever silence were more than golden, it is this deep silence under infinite provocation. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

Satan Slanders but Christ Pleads

Sherry Character of Jesus, promises Leave a comment

The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His doctrine. – John 18:19

And the high priest arose, and said unto Him, Answerest Thou nothing? …But Jesus held His peace. – Matthew 26:62,63

Caiaphas, the high priest came in; he began at once to interrogate the Lord before the public trial doubtless with the view of catching Him in His speech. The high priest asked Him first of His disciples. We do not know what questions he asked; perhaps they were something like these: “What meanest Thou, to allow a rabble to follow Thee wherever Thou goest? Who art Thou, that Thou shouldst have twelve persons always attending Thee and calling Thee Master? Dost Thou intend to make these the leaders of a band of men? Are these to be Thy lieutenants, to raise a host on Thy behalf? Or dost Thou pretend to be a prophet, and are these the sons of the prophets who follow Thee, as Elisha did Elias Moreover, where are they? Where are Thy gallant followers? If Thou art a good man, why are they not here to bear witness to Thee? Where are they gone? Are they not ashamed of their folly, now that Thy promises of honor all end in shame?” The high priest “asked Him of His disciples.” Our Lord Jesus on this point said not a syllable. Why this silence? Because it is not for our Advocate to accuse His disciples. He might have answered, “Well dost thou ask, ‘Where are they?’ the cowards forsook Me; when one proved a traitor, the rest took to their heels. Thou sayest, ‘Where are My disciples?’ there is one yonder, sitting by the fire, warming his hands, the same who just now denied Me with an oath.” But no, He would not utter a word of accusation; He whose lips are mighty to intercede for His people, will never speak against them. Let Satan slander, but Christ pleads. The accuser of the brethren is the prince of this world: the Prince of peace is ever our Advocate before the eternal throne. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

The Day Shall Come

Sherry Character of Jesus, promises, prophecy, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And they that had laid hold on Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. – Matthew 26:57

Come we to the hall of Caiaphas. After the mob had dragged our Lord from the house of Annas, they reached the palace of Caiaphas, and there a brief interval occurred before the High Priest came forth to question the prisoner. Luke shall tell the pitiful story: “And the men that held Jesus mocked Him and smote Him. And when they had blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face, and asked Him, saying, “‘Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?’ And many other things blasphemously spake they against Him.” Observe how they insult His claim to the Messiahship! In effect, they mock Him thus: “Thou claimest to be a prophet like unto Moses; Thou knowest things to come; if Thou be sent of God, prove it by discovering Thy foes; we will put Thee on trial, and test Thee, O Thou man of Nazareth.” They bind His eyes, and then, smiting Him one after another, they bid Him exercise His prophetic gift for their amusement, and prophesy who it was that smote Him. Oh, shameful question! How gracious was the silence, for an answer might have withered them for ever. The day shall come when all that smite Christ, shall find that He has seen them, though they thought His eyes were blinded. The day shall come, blasphemer, worldling, careless man, when everything that you have done against Christ’s cause and Christ’s people, shall be published before the eyes of men and angels, and Christ shall answer your question, and shall tell you who it is that smote Him. I speak to some this morning who have forgotten that Christ sees them; and they have ill-treated His people; they have spoken ill of His holy cause, saying, “How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” I tell you, the Judge of men shall ere long, point you out, and make you, to your shame and confusion of face, confess that you smote the Savior when you smote His Church. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

Treasured Sacrifice

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And led Him away to Annas first; for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year…Now Annas had sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. – John 18:13,24

The brook Kedron was that into which all the filth of the sacrifices of the temple was cast, and Christ, as though He were a foul and filthy thing, must be led to the black stream. He was led into Jerusalem by the sheep-gate, the gate through which the lambs of the Passover and the sheep for sacrifice were always driven. Little did they understand, that in so doing they were again following out to the very letter the significant types which God had ordained in the law of Moses. They led this Lamb of God through the sheep-gate, and they hastened Him on to the house of Annas, the ex-high priest, who, either from his relationship to Caiaphas, from his natural ability, or his prominence in opposing the Savior, stood high in the opinion of the rulers. Here they made a temporary call, to gratify the bloodthirsty Annas with the sight of his victim; and then, hastening on, they brought Him to the house of Caiaphas, some little distance off; where, though it was but a little past the dead of night, many members of the Sanhedrim were assembled… Brethren, as the Lord gave commandment concerning even the ashes and offal of the sacrifices, we ought to think no matter trivial which stands in connection with our great burnt offering. My admonition is, “Gather up the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost.” As goldsmiths sweep their shops, to save even the filings of the gold, so every word of Jesus should be treasured up as very precious…Things which were purposed of old, prophesied by seers, witnessed by apostles, written by evangelists, and published by the ambassadors of God, are not matters of secondary interest, but deserve our solemn and devout attention. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm