salvation

Victory By the Lamb

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

So the Philistines were subdued… – 1 Samuel 7:11, 13

The tribes had assembled unarmed to worship. The Philistines, hearing of their gathering, suspected a revolt. A rising was not at that time contemplated, though no doubt there was lurking in the hearts of the people a hope that they would somehow or other be delivered. Hearing that the people had come together, the Philistines determined to attack them; to attack the company who had come together for worship. The people were alarmed; naturally they might be. Samuel, however, the prophet of God, was equal to the occasion. He bade them bring a lamb. I do not know that the lamb was offered according to the Levitical rites, yet prophets in all ages had a right to dispense with ordinary laws. He takes the lamb, puts it on the altar, offers it, and as it smokes to heaven he offers prayer. The voice of man is answered by the voice of God; a great thunder dismays the Philistines, and they are put to rout.

Brethren, if we have done anything for Christ, if we have achieved any victories, if in this house any souls have been converted, any hearts sanctified, any drooping spirits comforted, bear witness that it has been all through the Lamb. And when we have preached Christ ascending up on high, leading captivity captive, and when we have glorified in the fact that He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and that He shall come to judge the quick and dead, if any good has been accomplished it has been through the Lamb-the Lamb slain, or else the Lamb exalted. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0500.cfm

He Died to Save Fallen Man

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 3 Comments

For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. – Hebrews 2:16

The literal translation, according to the marginal reading, is, “He took not up angels, but He took up the seed of Abraham,” by which is meant, that Christ did not die to save angels, though many of them needed salvation, but He died to save fallen man…Which of those two beings is the most worth saving? Which is the most valuable creature? Which would serve his Maker most, if his Maker should spare him? And I defy any of you to hold, that a sinful man is a more valuable creature than an angel. Why, if God had looked at profit, speaking after the manner of men, it would be more profitable to Him to save the angel. Could not the restored angel serve Him better than restored man? If I serve God, day after day, yet at night I must rest; but the angels serve day without night in His temple. If my zeal be ever so intense, yet my body must flag; but angels know not weariness; and if saved, I shall make but a poor courtier to stand around His throne, but yon bright fallen seraph would, if he had been delivered, have made a very peer to grace the halls of the Almighty. If I shall ever be carried to heaven, I have no bright angelic honors, and my nature when ennobled, will not surpass what an angel might have been if God had so decreed; but if Satan had been saved, oh! how loudly would he have sung, and with what glory would he have marched through heaven, to the praise and glory of the grace which rescued him from hell! Therefore, if God had in that thought of His own profit, He would sooner have saved angels than have saved men. If Satan had entered heaven, it would have been like a restoration-an old king come back to his ancient throne; but when man goes there, it is like a king going to a new dynasty-a new kingdom; it is man entering into the angel’s place; and for that you know, there must be sanctifying grace and purchasing love. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0090.cfm

I Am a Child of God Next to My Maker

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

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. – Hebrews 2:9

I consider that to be a Christian man is to be the greatest thing that God has made. Little as I am, I can say of myself, if I am a child of God, I am next to my Maker. Manhood is a noble thing, for God wore manhood once; manhood is a glorious thing, for it was the robe of the eternal; “God was made flesh and dwelt among us;” therefore, flesh is dignified and glorified. As I said, it would not be so comfortable to be a man, if Christ had not been a man. For I know that I must die; now, my comfort is, that I shall rise again; but I should not have had that comfort if Christ had not been a man, and if He had not died and risen again. Oh! death, I have often seen thy dungeon, and I have thought, how can it be that any should escape therefrom; the walls thereof are thick, and against the door is a ponderous stone; it is sealed fast, and watchers guard it. But I take comfort, for there was a Man who broke the bonds of death; there was one who snapped the fetter, cut the bars of brass, unlocked the gates, and made His way triumphant through the sky; in that Man I see an instance of what I, too, shall do; when the loud trump of the archangel shall startle my sleeping atoms, I, too, shall find it easy to rise, for as the Lord my Saviour rose, so all His followers must; and therefore, death, I look upon thy dungeon as one that must be opened again, for it has been opened once; I look upon thy worm as but a little thing that must yield up its prey, and give back the flesh whereon it fed; I look upon the stone of thy sepulchre as but some pebble of oceans’ shingly beach, which I shall cast away with eager hand, when I shall burst the cerements of the grave, and mount to immortality. It is a comfortable thing to be a man, because Christ died and rose again; but had He been an angel, the resurrection would not have had that great and glorious proof, nor should we have been so content to be human, seeing there would be death, but no immortality and life. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0090.cfm

His Love and His Wisdom Shown

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

For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. – Hebrews 2:16

Christ became a man, and not an angel, because He desired to be one with His dear Church. Christ was betrothed to His Church ere time began; and when He came into the world He virtually said, “I will go with thee, My Bride, and I will delight Myself in thy company. Angels’ garments were not a fitting wedding dress for Me to wear, if I am to be bone of thy bone, and flesh of thy flesh. I am allied to thee by a union firm and strong. I have called thee Hephzibah, my delight is in thee; and I have said, thy land shall be called Beulah, that is, married. Well, if I am married to thee, I will live in the same condition with thee; it were not fit that husband should live in palace, and that his wife would live in cottage; it were not meet that a husband should be arrayed in gorgeous robes, and his wife in meaner garments.” “No,” said He to His Church, “if thou dwellest upon earth, I will; if thou dwellest in a tabernacle of clay, I will do the same;

“Yea, said the Lord, with her I’ll go,
Through all the depths of care and woe,
And on the cross will even dare
The bitter pangs of death to bear.”

Christ cannot bear to be different from His Church. You know, He would not be in heaven without her, therefore, did He make that long, long journey, to redeem her and visit her, and when He came on this good errand, He would not that she should be made of clay, and He should not be made of clay too; He was the head, and it would have been out of order that the head should have been of gold, and the body of clay; it would have been like Nebuchadnezzar’s image, that must be broken. “Since the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He must also take part in the same,” for He became “perfect through suffering,” since He was “the captain of our salvation.” Thus, again, you see His love and His wisdom, that He “took not on Him the nature of angels, but took upon Him the seed of Abraham.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0090.cfm

Men Chosen and Fallen Angels Rejected

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

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth… – 2 Thessalonians 2:13

Angels were the elder born. God created them, and it pleased Him to give unto them a free will to do as they pleased; to choose the good or to prefer the evil, even as He did to man: He gave them this stipulation-that if they should prefer the good, then their station in heaven should be for ever fixed and firm; but if they sinned, they should be punished for their guilt, and cast out from the presence of His glory into flames of fire. In an evil hour, Satan, one of the chiefs of the angels, rebelled; he tempted others, and he led astray a part of the stars of heaven. God, in His divine vengeance, smote those rebel angels, drove them from their heavenly seats, banished them from their abodes of happiness and glory, and sent them down to dwell for ever in the abyss of hell; the rest He confirmed, calling them the elect angels; He made their thrones eternally secure, and gave them an entail of those crowns which, sustained by His grace, they had preserved by the rectitude of their holy conduct. After that it pleased Him to make another race of beings, called men. He did not make them all at once; He made but two of them, Adam and Eve, and He committed to their keeping the safety of their entire progeny throughout all generations; He said to Adam, as He had said to the angels, “I give unto thee free-will; thou mayest obey or disobey, as thou pleasest. There is My law; thou art not to touch yon tree. The command is by no means irksome. To keep that command will not be difficult to thee, for I have given thee free-will to choose the good.” However, so it happened, much to the misery of man, that Adam broke the covenant of works; he touched the accursed fruit, and in that day he fell. Ah! what a fall was there! Then you, and I, and all of us fell down, while cursed sin did triumph over us; there were no men that stood; there were some angels that stood, but no men, for the fall of Adam was the fall of our entire race…Now, here you notice divine sovereignty; sovereignty, that God chose to put both men and angels on the footing of their free-will; sovereignty, in that He chose to punish all the fallen angels with utter destruction; sovereignty, in that He chose to reprieve the whole human race, and to grant an eternal pardon to a number, whom no man can number, selected out of men, who shall infallibly be found before His right hand above. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0090.cfm

“The bridge is broken, the bridge is broken!”

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

Not of works, lest any man should boast. – Ephesians 2:9

Have not you sometimes found, that when you thought you were standing on a rock, there was a quivering beneath your feet? You heard the Christian sing boldly:

“Bold shall I stand in that great day,
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
While, thro’ Thy blood, absolv’d I am
From sin’s tremendous curse and shame.”

And you have said, “Well, I cannot sing that, I have been as good a Churchman as ever lived, I never missed going to my church all these years, but I cannot say I have a solid confidence.” “Well,” says another, “I have been to my chapel, and I have been baptized, and made a profession of religion, though I was never brought to know the Lord in sincerity and in truth, and I once thought it was all well with me, but I want a something which I cannot find.” Now comes a shaking in the heart. It is not quite so delightful as one supposed, to build on one’s own righteousness. How many a man who has been self-righteous all his life, has, at the last discovered that the thing whereon he placed his hope had failed him…You thought there was a bridge of ceremonies; that baptism, confirmation, and the Lord’s Supper, made up the solid arches of a bridge of good works and duties. But when you come to die, there shall be heard the cry-“The bridge is broken, the bridge is broken!” It will be in vain for you to turn round then. Death is close behind you; he forces you onward, and you discover what it is to perish through having neglected the great salvation and attempting to save yourself through your own good works. Good as you thought yourself to be, inasmuch as you proudly rejected Christ, you must drink the winecup of the wrath of God; that cup which is full of trembling. The wicked of the earth shall wring out the dregs of that cup, and drink them; and you also must drink of it as deep as they. Oh, beware in time! Put away your high looks, and humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0225.cfm

The Voice of God is Heard!

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

And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that He will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. – 1 Samuel 7:8

The Philistines were not routed except by prayer. Samuel prayed unto the Lord. They said, “Cease not to cry unto the Lord for us.” Brethren, let us bear our witness that if aught of good has been accomplished it has been the result of prayer… As there was prayer and sacrifice, you must remember that in answer to the sweet savor of the lamb and the sweet perfume of Samuel’s intercession, Jehovah came forth to rout his foes. I read not that Israel shouted a war-cry. No, their shouts would not have been heard amid those great thunders. I find that they dashed to battle; but it was not their bow, their spear, their sword, that gained the victory. Hearken, my brethren, the voice of God is heard! Crash-crash! Where are you now, ye sons of Anak! The heavens shake, the earth rocks, the everlasting hills do bow, the birds of the air fly to the coverts of the forest to hide themselves, the timid goats upon the mountains seek the clefts of the rocks. Peal on peal the thunders roll till mountain answers mountain in loud uproar of affright. From crag to crag leaps the live lightning, and the Philistines are all but blinded by it, and stand aghast, and then take to their heels and fly. Quit yourselves like men, O Philistines, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews. Quit yourselves like men, but unless ye be gods ye must tremble now. Where are your bucklers and the bosses thereof? Where are your spears and the sheen thereof? Now let your swords flash from their scabbards; now send out your giants and their armor-bearers! Now let your Goliaths defy the Lord God of hosts! Aha! Aha! Ye become like women, ye quake! ye faint! See, see! they turn their backs and fly before the men of Israel, whom they counted but as slaves. They flee. The warrior flees and the stout heart quails, and the mighty man flees like a timid dove to his hiding-place. “Glory be unto the Lord God of Israel: His own right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory.” Beloved, if aught of good has been accomplished, or if you and I have routed sin, how hath it been? Not by our strength, not by our power, but by the glorious voice of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0500.cfm