repentance

The Power of Pardoning Love

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, repentance, salvation, The Father 3 Comments

…and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. – 1 John 1:7

Blessed be the name of the Lord, unless we are awfully deceived, we do desire to do that which is well-pleasing in His sight.

When the grace of God opens a man’s eyes to see his best actions as they appear in God’s sight, he sees that those actions are marred by sin. There is not anything that he has done which appears to him to be what it ought to be when he looks at it aright in the light of God’s Word. The most consecrated action of his life, the most devout communion with Christ, the most intense ardor after God, falls far short of what it ought to be, and has something in it which ought not to be there. When the grace of God is strong within us, it makes sin appear to abound even to our own vision; we see it in every hymn we sing, in every prayer we pray, in every sermon we preach. Not only do we see sin in our best things, but we also discover sin in our omissions. We were never troubled about that matter before, but now we recollect that what we do not do is often sinful; not merely the wrong that we commit, but the good that we omit, the good that we neglect or forget to do. There is much sin there. Then we begin to examine our thoughts, and our trivial utterances, and we see them all crusted over with sin. Well, what then? Why, then, this blessed text comes sweetly home to our hearts. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” And now, how gloriously grace abounds! Now we prove the power of that precious blood which can wash us whiter than snow, so that God Himself shall say to each one of us, “There is no spot in thee.”

Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, I do firmly believe that a deep and clear sense of sin is necessary to a right estimation of the power of pardoning love. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3115.cfm

 

But, Blessed Be God…

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God 2 Comments

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 5:21

Men, after they are converted, and begin to examine themselves in the light of God’s Word, if they are at all like us, find sin everywhere within them;-sin in the affections, so that the hearts lusteth after evil things;-sin in the judgment, so that it often makes most serious mistakes, and honestly puts bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter-sin in the desires, so that though we try to curb them, they wander hither and thither, whither we would not; sin in the will… that he is still very proud, and wants to have his own way,-and is not willing to bow submissively to the will of God; sin in the memory, so that the most godly people can often recollect a snatch of a bad old song which they used to hear or to sing, far more readily than they can remember a text of Scripture; which they wish to treasure up in their memories, for memory has become unhinged, like all the rest of our faculties, and is quick to retain evil, and slow to retain that which is good. Brethren and sisters in Christ, in what part of our body does sin not dwell? Is there any single faculty, or power, or propensity that we have which will not lead us astray if we will let it do so? Are we not obliged to be always upon our guard against ourselves, and to watch ourselves as a garrison of soldiers would have to watch the natives of a country whom they had subdued, but who were anxious to throw off the yoke of the foreigners who had overcome them. In a similar fashion, grace is a foreigner in possession of our nature, and it holds by its own superior force what it has won; and only by its supernatural strength are we kept from regaining our former position.

Thus you see how sin abounds, even in the heart of a believer; but, blessed be God, grace doth much more abound there; for, although the will is still strong, there is a higher power that subdues and controls it so that our will is being gradually conformed to the will of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3115.cfm

The Gospel’s Blessing

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

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. – Romans 4:8

When the law gets thoroughly into a man’s heart, it drives him to despair of himself. “Oh!” says he, “I cannot keep that law.” Once, he thought that he was as good as other people, and a little better than most; and he did not know but that, with a little polishing, and a little help, he might be good enough, to win the favor of God and go to heaven; but when the law entered his heart, it soon smashed his idol to atoms. The Dagon of self-righteousness speedily falls before the ten commands of God, and is so broken that it can never be mended… You must starve the sinner’s self-righteousness to make him willing to feed on Christ; and thus the very depths of his despair, when he thinks that he must be lost for ever, will only lead him, by God’s abundant love, to a fuller appreciation of the heights of God’s grace.

Now the law can do nothing for a sinner but say to him, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them;” but the gospel comes in, and it replies to the curse of the law with such words as these, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord impuneth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Let the law curse as it may, the gospel’s blessing is richer and stronger, for the gospel says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;” and “there is therefore now no condemnation to them, which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3115.cfm

Made to See the Blackness of Our Sin

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, repentance, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life 5 Comments

…the law entered, that the offence might abound. _ Romans 5:20

When the law enters a man’s heart, it brings his sin out in very strong relief. He never saw his sin to be so black as he now sees it to be. A stick is crooked, but you do not notice how crooked it is until you place a straight rule by the side of it. You have a handkerchief, and it seems to be quite white; you could hardly wish it to be whiter; but you lay it down on the newly-fallen snow, and you wonder how you could ever have thought it to be white at all. So the pure and holy law of God, when our eyes are opened to see its purity, shows up our sin in its true blackness, and in that way it makes sin to abound; but this is for our good, for that sight of our sin awakens us to a sense of our true condition, leads us to repentance, drives us by faith to the precious blood of Jesus, and no longer permits us to rest in our self-righteousness.

A little while ago, I met with a brother who said to me, “You cannot too forcibly describe the anguish of a convicted conscience; for,” said he, “I remember when I reckoned how long it would be before I must, in the ordinary course of nature, be in hell. I said to myself, ‘Suppose I live to be eighty years of age, yet how short a time it will be before I must be enduring the infinite wrath of God.'” Yes, that is the effect that the law of the Lord often produces upon a man when it enters his heart. It brings a mirror before him, and says to him “Look in there, and see not only what you have done, but also what is the just consequence of your evil deeds.” A man no longer cavils at God’s justice when the law once gets inside his heart; it shuts his mouth except for groans and sighs, and he has plenty of them…Let us thank God if ever we have experienced the entrance of His law into our hearts: for, although it makes sin to abound, is makes grace much more abound. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3115.cfm

The Law Enters

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, Sovereignty of God, the unbelieving life 1 Comment

“Moreover, the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”- Romans 5:20

Paul writes, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” But, as soon as he found that there was a law against a certain sin, by some unhallowed instinct of his unrenewed nature, he wanted to do the very thing that he was forbidden to do. It was like that with us, the first effect of the entrance of the law of God into our hearts was to develop the sin that was already within us. “That is a dreadful thing,” says one. Yes, it is; but look at the matter from another aspect. Here is a man who has within him a dire disease which will be fatal if it is allowed to remain, so the physician gives him some medicine which throws the disease out. The man used to have a beautiful complexion, but after he has taken that medicine, his face is covered with blotches. Is that a bad thing? Yes, the blotches are bad, but the hidden disease was worse. While that disease was concealed within his system, and was killing him, he probably did not even know that is was there. He knew that he was not well, and perhaps thought that he was dying as the result of some other complaint; but now he sees what the disease is, and everybody sees it, and now that which looked like an evil thing may turn out to be for real good to the man. So does it often happen mentally, morally, and spiritually. A man’s wicked heart is full of enmity against God, yet he thinks-and perhaps he is right in thinking-that he is outwardly a strictly moral man; but, lo! the law of God, with its requirements of perfect purity and absolute obedience, enters his heart, and he rebels against it, and now the sin is apparent, even to himself. It is likely now that this man will repent of sin, it is highly probable that this development of his latent sin will lead him to form a different opinion of himself from any that he ever had before; and therefore, though the sin is evil, and the development of it is evil, yet, where sin abounded, grace shall much more abound, and so good shall come out of the evil after all. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3115.cfm

The Communion of the Holy Spirit

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

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38

By the Holy Spirit He has entered into our hearts, and changed the current of our lives. He has turned our affections towards that which is right by enlightening our judgments. He has led us to the confession of sin, He has brought us to the acceptance of His mercy through the atoning blood; and so He has truly saved us. What a visit is this! This visit of the Holy Ghost, when He comes to dwell in us, is surpassingly condescending. I have often said that I never know which to admire most, the incarnation of the Son of God, or the indwelling of the Spirit of God. This last is a wonderful condescension, for the Holy Ghost does not take a pure body of His own, but He makes our bodies to be His temples; He dwells not only in one of these, but in tens of thousands; and that not only by the space of thirty years, but throughout the whole life of the believer. He dwelleth in us notwithstanding all our provocations and rebellions. Mark the word, not only with us, but in us, and that evermore. Oh, this tender mercy! Who can describe it? Sweet Spirit, gentle Spirit, how canst Thou abide with me? O heavenly Dove, how canst Thou find rest in such a soul as mine? Yet without Thee we are undone, and therefore we adore the tender mercy which makes Thee bear with us so long, and work in us so graciously till Thou hast conformed us to the image of the Firstborn. We are melted by the love of the Spirit-the communion of the Holy Spirit, by which the Lord hath visited us.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1907.cfm

He that Believeth

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

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. – Mark 16:16

One of the simplest declarations of the gospel is, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life;” and one of the last sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ before He went back to heaven was, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” To believe is to trust; and whosoever trusts Christ Jesus, depends upon the merit of His death, relies upon the excellence of His atoning sacrifice, and proves the reality of His faith by confessing it in the Scriptural way, such a man shall assuredly be saved; and, in order to his being saved, he shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by whose almighty power he shall be enabled to conquer the sin that still dwells within him.

Once more, and this is the part of the gospel that is the best of all, in order that you might be able to believe that God can have mercy on the guilty, and in order that you might be saved, God gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to offer a full and complete atonement for sin… According to the righteous law of God, sin must be punished. Conscience tells you that it is not possible that guilt should go without its due penalty. Therefore it was that Jesus came, and bore the dread penalty that was due to sin. The lash of the law must fall on someone, so He bared His shoulders to its terrible blows. The sword of divine justice was unsheathed, and it must smite someone; so Jesus gave His heart to that sword’s point, and quenched the flaming blade in the crimson fountain of His own blood. Now that this has been done, God can be just, and yet the Justifier of everyone who believes in Jesus; and the effect of that atoning sacrifice upon everyone who truly trusts to it is that he finds himself so changed that he hates the sin he formerly loved, he rushes out of the wicked way in which he once delighted, he abhors the thoughts that once charmed him, and he turns to the Saviour whom once he despised. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2797.cfm