promises

Feed Me with Thy Word

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

But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” – Luke 4:4

Where can a child of God find true solace apart from that which cometh out of the mouth of the Most High? Truly, “Man doth not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live;” “Thy words were found, and I did eat them;” “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” When Nathan came to tell David of the covenant which the Lord would make with him and his house, David would scarcely have believed so great a mercy to be really his if the prophet had not began with “Thus saith the Lord.” It was not “Thus saith Nathan,” or “Thus do the ancients say,” but “Thus saith the Lord;” and David’s heart was full of holy joy when he saw the covenant to be ordered in all things and sure. When Hezekiah lay sick unto death, he turned his face to the wall and prayed; but there was no comfort to the royal suppliant until the prophet came with “Thus saith the Lord;” and when Sennacherib was about to besiege Jerusalem, and Lachish had fallen, Hezekiah prayed, and the people with him; but oh! they could not think it possible that there should be a hook put into the jaw of the mighty Assyrian, and that he should be turned back by the way in which he came, till the prophet reassured their hearts with a “Thus saith the Lord.” Zion’s sons and daughters feast upon the sure word of their faithful God. Brethren, I need not enlarge here, for I hope most of you know the preciousness of a divine promise. There is nothing wanted to stay your soul in your worst troubles, but the Word of God applied with power. God may not send you a friend; He may not raise up a deliverer; but if He shall only give you to believe His Word, that shall be enough for you. Martin Luther said: “I have covenanted with my Lord that He should not send me visions, or dreams, or even angels. I am content with this one gift of the Scriptures, which abundantly teaches and supplies all that is necessary, both for this life and that which is to come.” O Lord, only feed me on Thy Word, and I will not envy kings their delicacies, nor even the angels around Thy throne the bread of heaven on which they live. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0591.cfm

The Only Authority in God’s Church

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

And the LORD spake unto Moses… – Exodus 25:1

When the tabernacle was pitched in the wilderness, what was the authority for its length and breadth? Why was the altar of incense to be placed here, and the brazen laver there? Why so many lambs or bullocks to be offered on a certain day? Why must the Passover be roasted whole and not sodden? Simply and only because God had shown all these things to Moses in the holy mount; and thus had Jehovah spoken, “Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” It is even so in the church at the present day; true servants of God demand to see for all church ordinances and doctrines the express authority of the church’s only Teacher and Lord. They remember that the Lord Jesus bade the apostles to teach believers to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded them; but He neither gave to them, nor to any man, power to alter His own commands. The Holy Ghost revealed much of precious truth and holy precept by the apostles, and to His teaching we would give earnest heed; but when men cite the authority of fathers and councils and bishops, we give place for subjection? No, not for an hour. They may quote Irenaeus or Cyprian, Augustine or Chrysostom; they may remind us of the dogmas of Luther or Calvin; they may find authority in Simeon, Wesley, or Gill-we will listen to the opinions of those great men with the respect which they deserve as men; but having so done, we deny that we have anything to do with these men as authorities in the church of God: for there nothing has any authority but “Thus saith the Lord of Hosts.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0591.cfm

The Trowel and Hammer of God-sent Ministers

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

Thus saith the LORD God of Israel… – various scriptures

If he be God’s minister, he does not found his teaching upon his own authority, for then his message would be only that of himself, and not to be esteemed; but he shows the authority of his Master, and none can gainsay him. He claims men’s attention on the ground that he utters a “Thus saith the Lord.” No matter how aged he may be, he does not proclaim the truth as merely the result of his long investigations or his extraordinary experience, but he grounds it upon “Thus saith the Lord.” So spake the hoary-headed Joshua when for many a year he had known the faithfulness of God and was about to die. He was singing his swan-song, preaching his last sermon; but he did not commence it, “Thus saith my age,” “Thus say I upon mine own authority,” but “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.” A God-sent minister is the ambassador of the Most High, but he has no right to go beyond his commission; and when he does so, his office cannot yield him support. The prophets of God did not say, “Thus I speak as a prophet,” but, “Thus saith the Lord.” When the prophet came in Gideon’s days and spoke to erring Israel, he opened his mouth with, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.” Turn to the pages of Isaiah, and mark how frequent he quotes the divine authority; study the plaintive words of Jeremiah, and observe how solemnly his prophetic woes are prefaced with, “Thus saith the Lord;” and the soaring Ezekiel, to whom was given, as it were, six wings, that he might take more lofty flights than the eagle knoweth-even he relied not upon the sublimity of his language or the glory of his imagery, but found the sinews of his strength in “Thus saith the Lord God.” This is the trowel and this the hammer of God’s builders, -this the trumpet of his watchmen and the sword of his warriors. Woe to the man who comes in any other name! If we, or an angel from heaven, shall preach unto you anything but a “Thus saith the Lord,” no matter what our character or standing, give no heed to us, but cleave unto the truth as it is in Jesus. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0591.cfm

Wisdom and Power in His Word

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

Thus saith the Lord… – various scriptures

It is in the Word that we must find wisdom and power, “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” The faintest whisper of Jehovah’s voice should fill us with a solemn awe and command the deepest obedience of our souls. Brethren, how careful should we be that we do not set up in God’s temple anything in opposition to His Word, that we do not permit the teachings of a creature to usurp the honor due to the Lord alone! “Thus saith antiquity,” “thus saith authority,” “thus saith learning,” “thus saith experience,”-these be but idol-gods, which defile the temple of God; be it yours and mine, as bold iconoclasts, to dash them in pieces without mercy, seeing that they usurp the place of the Word of God. “Thus saith the Lord “-this is the motto of our standard, the war-cry of our spiritual conflict,-the sword with which we hope yet to smite through the loins of the mighty who rise up against God’s truth. Nothing shall stand before this weapon in the day when God cometh out of His hiding-place; for even at this hour, when “Thus saith the Lord” sounds from the trumpet of the Lord’s ministers, the hosts of Midian begin to tremble; for well they know the might of that terrible watchword in days of yore.

Let me say to you, my hearers, have any of you a hope of heaven which will not stand the test of “Thus saith the Lord?” What are you resting upon? Are you building upon your own works? Are you depending upon your own feelings? Do you rely upon sacraments? Are you placing your trust upon the word of man? If so, remember that when God shakes all things, He will shake these false foundations; but oh! build upon the Word of my Lord and Master; trust your soul with Jesus. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0591.cfm

There is Power in God’s Word

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

“Where the word of a king is, there is power.” – Ecclesiastes 8:4

“Thus saith the Lord.”- Ezekiel 11:15

“Where the word of a king is, there is power.” What power must there be where there is the word of the King of kings, who ruleth over all! We are not left to conjecture as to the power of the divine word, for we know that “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Out of nothingness the glorious creation leaped at the bidding of the Most High, and when the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, there was nothing wanted but that solemn voice, “Light be,” and straightway light was. God’s word was sufficient in itself to build the temple of the universe and to finish it from its foundations to its pinnacles. That same word upholdeth by its power, and ruleth all things by its might. The pillars of heaven stand because the divine word hath fixed them upon their bases, nor shall they be shaken until that same almighty word shall bid them remove; then as a moment’s foam dissolves into the wave which bears it and is gone forever, so shall the whole creation melt away. His word, which created, shall also destroy; but until that word be spoken every atom of this world is imperishable. Consider, my brethren, what power is concentrated in Him who is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and whose name is “THE WORD OF GOD.” With what glorious power our Lord Jesus Christ uplifted the burden of our sins, carried the load up to the tree, and cast it forever into the Red Sea of His own atoning blood! Ye know how He burst the bars of death, tore away the gates of the grave, overthrew all the hosts of hell, and dragged the mightiest principalities of darkness as captives at His chariot wheels…We ought, therefore, to bow with reverence to that which is truly the Word of God, since it contains within itself the highest degree of power and is ever the way in which divine omnipotence manifests itself. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0591.cfm

Families Raised in Holy Households

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

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. – Deuteronomy 11:19

The obedience of faith creates a form of life which may be safely copied. As parents, we wish so to live that our children may copy us to their lasting profit. Teachers should aspire to be what they would have their classes to be. If you go to school to the obedience of faith, you will be good teachers. Children usually exaggerate their models; but there will be no fear of their going too far in faith, or in obedience to the Lord. I like to hear a man say, when his father has gone, “My dear father was a man that feared God, and I would fain follow him. When I was a boy, I thought him rather stiff and Puritanical; but now I see he had a good reason for it all. I feel much the same myself and would do nothing of which God would not approve.” The bringing up of families is a very great matter. This is too much neglected nowadays; and yet it is the most profitable of all holy service, and the hope of the future. Great men, in the best sense, are bred in holy households. God-fearing example at home is the most fruitful of religious agencies…I would to God that we had more men to-day who would maintain truth at all hazards. Alas! the gutta-percha backbone is common among Dissenters, and they take to politics, and the new philosophy, and therefore we are losing the force of our testimony, and are, I fear, decreasing in numbers too. The Lord give us back those whose examples can be safely copied in all things, even though they be decried as being “rigid” or “too precise”! We serve a jealous God, and a holy Saviour; wherefore let us mind that we do not grieve His Spirit and cause Him to withdraw from us. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2195.cfm

This Our Glory

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

…that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory. – 1 Thessalonians 2:12

Obedience is the glory of a human life-the glory which our Lord has given to His chosen, even His own glory. “He learned obedience.” He never struck out an original course, but He did always the things which pleased the Father. Be this our glory. By faith we yield our intelligence to the highest intelligence: we are led, guided, directed; and we follow where our Lord has gone. To a soldier it is the greatest honour to have accomplished his sovereign’s command. He does not debase his manhood who subjects it to honourable command; nay, he is even exalted by obeying in the day of danger. It is no dishonour to have it said :

“Theirs not to reason why;
Theirs but to dare and die.”

The bravest and the most honoured of men are those who implicitly obey the command of the King of kings. Among His children, they are best who best know their Father’s mind, and yield to it the gladdest obedience. Should we have any other ambition, within the walls of our Father’s house, than to be perfectly obedient children before Him, and implicitly trustful towards Him? God often hides His face behind the clouds of dust which His children make by their self-will. If we transgress against Him, we shall soon be in trouble; but a holy walk is heaven beneath the stars. God comes down to walk with men who obey. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2195.cfm