repentance

Stoop to a Humble Confession of Your Sin to God

Sherry Attributes of God, confession of sin, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. – Lamentations 3:29

Dear friends, it often happens that men do not obtain peace with God because they have not come low enough. The gate of heaven, though it is so wide that the greatest sinner may enter, is nevertheless so low that pride can never pass through it. Thou must stoop if thou wouldst enter heaven. “Let him put his mouth in the dust.”… There must be true, humble, lowly, confession of sin. You say that you have been praying, yet you have not found peace; have you confessed your sins? This is absolutely necessary, confess your sins to me? you ask. No, thank you; I do not want to hear your confession. It would do me much harm, and it could do you no good to tell them to me; it is to God alone that this confession should be made. Some men have never really made a confession of their sin to God at all; they have done it in such general and insincere terms that it did not amount to a confession. Go you, enter your chamber, shut the door, and get alone; and there, with words or without words, as you find it best, acknowledge before God your omissions and commissions, what you have done and what you have not done. Pour out the whole story before God, and cry with the publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Do not cloak or dissemble before the Almighty. Let all your sins appear. Take a lowly place; not simply be a sinner in name, but confess that thou art a sinner in fact and deed. I do believe that some of you are in darkness much longer than you need to be, because you do not stoop to a humble confession of your sin… Let your confession flow like water before God; pour out your heart before Him. Own to your sins, take the place of a sinner, for this is a great way towards finding salvation: “If so be there may be hope.” ` C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2468.cfm

Sit Thou Still, and Hold Thy Tongue

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

He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. – Lamentations 3:29

I know that the tendency of the human heart is to say, “I am no worse than other people, I am a good chapel-going, church-going, psalm-singing person. I give to the poor, I say my prayers, and attend to all that sort of thing.” Thou wilt never obtain mercy whilst thou hast a word of that kind to plead. Till thou art like a vessel turned upside down, and drained of every drop of human merit, there is no hope of salvation for thee. Thou must sit alone, and keep silence about those good works of thine, for they are all a lie, and thou knowest it. Thou hast never done a good work in thy life; thou hast either spoilt it by thy selfish motives before it, or by some carelessness in it, or else by some vainglorious pride after it… O man, talk no more so exceeding proudly, but sit thou still, and hold thy tongue about merit and deservings before the holy God. There is no way of mercy for any one of us until we shut our mouths, and utter not a single boastful word, but stand guiltily silent before the Lord.

 I like a man who knows, not only how to speak, but how to sit still; but that latter part is hard work to many… The Lord teaches true penitents how to hold their tongues. They open not their mouth when He has laid trouble upon them, and even in the company of good people they are sometimes dumb with silence, and they hold their tongue even from good. It is not an ill thing that they should act thus, for often the will of the Lord is not done with words; and sometimes, that silence which is frost of the mouth is thaw of the soul, and the heart flows best before God when even praise sits silent on our tongues. O beloved, in thine hour of darkness because of thy sin, sit thou still, and hold thy tongue, for it is oftentimes the way of peace to the soul! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2468.cfm

Presume Not to Judge Thy God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, repentance, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. – Lamentations 3:29

No man is truly saved while he sets himself up as the judge of God; yet this is the practice of many men. If you give them the Word of God, they begin to pull it to pieces. They ask, “Is God so severe that He will mark our faults? Does He even take notice of our evil thoughts? Can it really be true that, for every idle word that a man shall speak, he will have to give an account in the day of judgment?” And then, after judging God to be austere, and too harsh in His dealings with poor fallible flesh and blood, they go on to snatch from His hand the balance and the rod, and sit upon their little throne, and dare to impugn the decrees of the great Judge of all. “It would be wrong,” they say, “to cast men into hell, and to punish with eternal wrath the sins of a short life.” And then they begin to traverse all the teaching of Scripture, and to cavil at this and object to that.

When prisoners are tried by an earthly judge, and are condemned to die, if they are permitted to speak, they can have no hope of obtaining mercy by criticising the judge, and cavilling at the law. Of course they are not guilty, poor innocents! “It is the harsh law,” they say, “that is to blame.” But the law must maintain its majesty against such cavillers, and it cannot stoop to mercy, or sheath its sword, while a man is in that humor. So, sinner, sit thou alone, and keep thou silence; presume not to judge thy God. Behold, He cometh with clouds! The trumpet will soon proclaim His appearing, and they who were so free to judge their Maker will cry in another tone when that great day has at last come. With the earth reeling beneath their feet, and the heavens themselves on fire, they will beg the rocks to fall on them, and the hills to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. Go, thou guilty one, sit thee still, and hold thy tongue, and bring thy rebellious heart to submission. Shall the flax contend with the fire, or the stubble fight with the flame? What canst thou do in warring with thy Maker? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2468.cfm

Submissive Silence

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, repentance, salvation, The Father 1 Comment

“Let him sit alone and keep silence.”- Lamentations 3:28

If the burden of sin is pressing upon thee, be sure to abstain from all idle talk; for if the idle talk of others can distract thy thoughts, how much more would thine own! It ill becomes a man, who is on the brink of hell, to be laughing and jesting. When God is angry with thee, canst thou make mirth? I can understand how thou canst be merry when once thou hast come back to the great Father’s house, and the fatted calf is killed, and thy Father rejoices over thee; but whilst thou art still covered with thy sins, and art not yet sure of God’s forgiveness, sit silent. It is the best thing thou canst do; quietness becomes thee. Lay thy finger on thy lip till thou hast something better to speak of than thou hast as yet. Keep silence, then, from all idle talk.

Keep silence also in another respect. Do not attempt to make any excuse for your sin. Oh, how ready sinners are with their excuses! A man says, “But, sir, I have a besetting sin.” Do you not think that a great many people make a mistake about besetting sins? …The besetting sin is that which a man fights against, and wars against with all his soul, yet he is overcome by it. Do not lay any stress upon that, as though thy being beset by sin was any excuse to thee, especially if thou goest into the ways of sin. You go and sit with those who drink, and then wonder that you get drunk! You go and associate with those who swear or sing lewd songs, and then you wonder that, the next time you try to pray, a nasty verse of a bad song comes up! It is your own fault; if you go and willfully mingle with sinners, how can you be a child of God? No, when you know that anything is a sin, keep out of the temptation. He that does not want to get wet should not go out into the rain. Instead of your excuse making your case any better, it makes it worse; therefore, keep silence before thy God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2468.cfm

What is The State of Your Immortal Soul?

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

He sitteth alone and keepeth silence… – Lamentations 3:28

I commend solitude to any of you who are seeking salvation, first, that you may study well your case as in the sight of God. Few men truly know themselves as they really are. Most people have seen themselves in a looking-glass, but there is another looking-glass, which gives true reflections, into which few men look. To study one’s own self in the light of God’s Word, and carefully to go over one’s condition, examining both the inward and the outward sins, and using all the tests which are given us in the Scriptures, would be a very healthy exercise; but how very few care to go through it! Yet, beloved friends, if it be a wise thing to look well to your business, how much more ought you to look to the business which concerns your immortal souls! If a true shepherd will not neglect his flocks and his herds, should not a wise man care about his thoughts, his feelings, and his actions? Must it not be a wretched condition not to know whether one is saved or not? I sometimes hear people express surprise if they are asked whether they are saved; yet in what ignorance of your own soul’s state must you be if you have never put that question to yourself, or if, when it is put, you feel inclined to give no answer to it! I press this matter home upon you, and if you would be saved, you must know first that you are lost. If you would seek to be healed, you must first learn that you are sick. It is not possible that you will repent unless you are aware of your sin; it is not likely that you will look to Christ unless you first know what it is for which you are to look to Him. Therefore, I pray you, set apart some season every day, or at least some season as often as you can get it, in which the business of your mind shall be to take your longitude and latitude, that you may know exactly where you are. You may be drifting towards the rocks, and you may be wrecked before you know your danger. I implore you, do not let your ship go at full steam through a fog; but slacken speed a bit, and heave the lead, to see whether you are in deep waters or shallow. I am not asking you to do more than any kind and wise man would advise you to do; do I even ask you more than your own conscience tells you is right? Sit alone a while, that you may carefully consider your case. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2468.cfm

The Humbled Soul

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God 3 Comments

“He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because He hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.”-Lamentations 3:28, 29.

The prophet describes the conduct of a person in deep anguish of heart. When he does not know what to do, his soul, as if by instinct, humbles itself. He gets into some secret place, he utters no speech, he gives himself over to moaning and to tears, and then he bows himself lower and yet lower before the Divine Majesty, as if he felt that the only hope for him in the extremity of his sorrow was to make complete submission to God, and to lie in the very dust before Him.

It seems to me that such conduct as this, which is characteristic of every truly gracious man in his hour of trouble, should also be the mark of all who are seeking God’s grace, those who are not yet saved, but who are conscious of their need of salvation. I must, surely, be speaking right into the heart of some who are feeling the crushing weight and heavy burden of their guilt. If you cannot do anything else, dear friends, do what these two verses say, in order that, afterwards, you may be able to take that grand gospel step of faith in Jesus Christ which will certainly bring you into peace and joy.

Those of you who have the Revised Version will notice a correction which has been made long ago by all competent scholars:-“Let him sit alone and keep silence, because He hath laid it upon him. Let him put his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.” It does not matter which way you read the passage, because the conduct of one gracious man is virtually a precept to another; yet it is satisfactory to find that, if we are under the burden of sin, we are here commanded to do as the prophet did in his time of need. ~ C.H.Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2468.cfm

Accepted by Jesus

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

“Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”- Luke 7:50

There had, doubtless, been a work of the Spirit of God upon that woman’s heart, turning her from her sin to her Saviour… When the copious tears from her eyes fell upon His feet, He did not withdraw them. When those feet were wiped with the luxuriant tresses of her hair, still He did not withdraw them; and when she ventured upon a yet closer familiarity, and not only kissed His feet, but did not cease to kiss them, He still did not withdraw them, but quietly accepted all that she did. And when the precious ointment was poured in lavish abundance upon those precious feet of His, He did not upbraid her, He did not refuse her gifts, but tacitly accepted them, though without a word of acknowledgment just then. And I think it is a very blessed thing for any one of you to be accepted before God, even though no word has come from His lips assuring you that it is so. When your tears, and cries, and secret love, and earnest seeking,–when your confession of sin, your struggle after faith, and the dawnings of your faith are just accepted by the Lord, though as yet He has not said to you, “Thy sins are forgiven thee,” it is a very blessed stage for you to have reached, for the Lord does not begin to accept anyone, even by a silence which means consent, and then draw back. He accepted this woman’s love and gifts, though, for a time, He gave her no assurance of that acceptance, and that fact must have greatly cheered her. When Simon’s evil thoughts had condemned her, and her Lord also, Jesus spoke that wonderful parable which set forth the greatness of this woman’s love, and justified the extraordinary way in which she manifested it. Christ did not speak to her, but He spoke up for her; and such action as that should be quite sufficient to stay the soul of a believer in Him. What though my Lord has not revealed Himself to me, He has revealed Himself to the Father for me. What if He has not spoken to me? Yet, if He has spoken to God on my behalf -if He has spoken in the Scriptures in defence of poor sinners, and advocated their cause in the High Court of Heaven, then how thankful I may be, and how thankful they may be! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2770.cfm