salvation

Yield to the Pressure of His Love

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

Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

Come unto Me… – Matthew 11:28

Christ is salvation, and everything needful to salvation is in Him. If He comes, all good comes with Him, or rather in Him. An enquirer once said to a minister, “The next step for me is to get a deeper conviction of sin.” The minister said, “No such thing, my friend: the next step is to trust in Jesus, for He says, Come unto Me.” To come to Jesus, or rather to receive Jesus who has come to us, is the one essential step into eternal salvation. Though our Lord does say, “Come unto Me,” He has preceded it with this other word, “Lo, I come.” Poor cripple, if you cannot come to Jesus, ask Him to come to you; and He will. Here you lie, and you have been for years in this case; you have no man to put you into the pool, and it would do you no good if he did; but Jesus can make you whole, and He is here. You cannot stir hand or foot because of spiritual paralysis; but your case is not hopeless. Listen to my Lord in the text, “Then said I, Lo, I come.” He has no paralysis. He can come, leaping over the mountains of division. I know my Lord came to me, or I should never have come to Him: why should He not come to you? I came to Him because He came to me.

“He drew me, and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice divine.”

Why should He not draw us also? Is He not doing so? Yield to the pressure of His love.

“Then said I, Lo, I come.” You see our Lord is His own spokesman. He says to me, “Go and tell those people about My coming”; and I gladly do so; but you will forget my words, and refuse to accept the Coming One. Your consciences will be unawakened, your hearts unmoved: I fear it will be so. But if this text be fulfilled concerning our Lord this day-“Then said I, Lo, I come”-you will hear HIM. If He speaks He is Himself the Almighty Word, and His voice will reach your hearts, and accomplish His purpose. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Jesus is the Way to Himself

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

“I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” – Romans 10:20 (Isaiah 65:1)

Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

To many men and women Christ has come though they had not even desired Him. Yea, He has come even to those who hated Him. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to worry the saints at Damascus, but Jesus said, “Lo, I come”; and when He looked out of heaven He turned Saul, the persecutor, into Paul, the apostle. The promise is fulfilled, “I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me.” Herein is the glorious sovereignty of His love fully exercised, and grace reigns supreme. “Lo, I come,” is the announcement of majestic grace which waiteth not for man, neither tarrieth for the sons of men.

Our Lord Jesus is the way to Himself. Did you ever notice that? He comes Himself to us, and so He is the way by which we meet Him. He is our rest, and the way to our rest; He says, “I am the way.” You want to know how to get to Christ? You have not to get to Christ, for He has come to you. It is well for you to come to Christ; but that is only possible because Christ has come to you. Jesus is near you: near you now. Backslider, He comes to you! Wandering soul, roving to the very brink of perdition, the good Shepherd cries, “Lo, I come.” He is the way to Himself. ` C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Look Unto Him and Be Saved

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

Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. – Isaiah 45:22

How I wish the Lord would reveal Himself at this moment to each one of those who are weary of earth, of self, of sin, and possibly even weary of life itself! Oh, if you could but see Jesus standing in your room and stead, you would have faith to stand in His place, and so become accepted in the Beloved! O Lord, hear my prayer, and cause poor hearts to see Thee descending from the skies, to uplift sinners from the dark abyss! Holy Spirit, touch that young man’s eyes with heavenly salve, that he may see where salvation lies. Deal with that poor woman’s dim eyes also, that she may perceive the Lord Christ, and find peace in Him. Jesus cries, “Lo, I come! Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”

“There is life for a look at the Crucified One;
There is life at this moment for thee.
Then look, sinner, look unto Him, and be saved-
Unto Him who was nail’d to the tree.”

Should you even lie in all the despair and desolation which I described, I would persuade you to believe in Jesus. Trust Him, and you shall find Him all that you want.

Our Lord sets Himself to be permanently our all in all. When He came on earth, He did not leave His work till He had finished it. Even when He rose to glory, He continued His service for His chosen, living to intercede for them. Jesus was a Savior nineteen hundred years ago, and He is a Savior still; and He will be a Savior until all the chosen race shall have been gathered home. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

At Our Side and in Our Place

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

Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. – Hebrews 9:22

You have been your own confidence. What you could feel, or do, or think, or resolve, had become the ground of your confidence; but now Jesus puts your self down, and He is Himself exalted. By working yourself to death, you cannot effect your own salvation. Lo, Jesus comes to save you. You cannot weave yourself a garment. Lo, He comes to clothe you from head to foot with His own seamless robe of righteousness. He annihilates self that He may fill all things.

Here is a glorious setting of Himself at our side and in our place...He puts His own name to our liabilities, and in effect, that He may meet them, He says, “Lo, I come.” Your debt of sin is discharged when you believe in Christ Jesus. “Without shedding of blood is no remission;” but the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, cleanseth us from all sin. You are not now to bear your own sins. Behold the scape-goat, who carries them away into the wilderness! Yea, Jesus says, “Lo, I come!” He takes our sins upon Himself; He bears their penalty, and we go free. Blessed word-“Lo, I come: I come to take your weight of sin, your burden of punishment. I come to be made a curse for you, that you may be made the righteousness of God in Me.” Sinner, stand out of the way, and let Jesus appear for you, and fill your place! He sets you on one side, and then He sets Himself where you have been. Jesus is now the one pillar on which to lean, the one foundation on which to build, the one and only rest of our weary souls. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

His Perfect Salvation

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, prophecy, repentance, salvation 1 Comment

Then said I, Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. – Isaiah 28:16

Have you not seen people engaged in urgent work who did not understand their business Apprentices, and other unskillful people, are muddling time away. They are making bad worse, and running great risk. Perhaps a great calamity will occur if the work is not done well and quickly. A first-rate worker is sent for. See, the man has come who understands the business. He cries, “Let me come! Stand out of my way! You are on the wrong track: let me do it myself!” You have not blamed him for egotism, for the thing needed to be done, and he could do it, and the others could not. Everybody recognized the master workman, and gave place to him. The announcement of his coming was the end of the muddle, and the signal of hope. Even so Jesus comes to you sinners, and His presence is your salvation. He says, “Lo, I come.” What does He mean? He means, the setting of all else on one side. There is the priest-he has not helped you much; he may go, for Jesus says, “Lo, I come.” There are your own efforts and doings; there are your feelings and thinkings; there are your ceremonies and austerities; there are your prayers and tears; there are your hearings and readings-all these must be laid aside as grounds of confidence, and Jesus alone must be your trust. He can do for you what none of these can. You are trying to work yourself up to repentance and faith, and you cannot succeed. Let Him come, and He will bring every good thing with Him. It is glorious to see our Lord throwing down all our bowing walls and tottering fences, and to hear Him cry, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation.” Everything else vanishes before His perfect salvation. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Worthless Cobwebs

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

Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:6,7

Sacrifices and offerings had ceased to be of any value: God had put them away as a weariness to Him. The scribes and the Pharisees, with all their phylacteries and wide-bordered garments, were a mere sham. There seemed to be no true religion left upon the earth. Then said Christ, “Lo, I come.” There was never a darker thirty years than when Herod slew the innocents, and the chief priests and scribes pursued the Son of God, and at last nailed Him to the tree. It was then that Jesus came to us to redeem us by His death. Do I speak to any man here whose religion has broken down? You have observed a host of rites and ceremonies: you were christened in your infancy, you were duly confirmed, you have taken what you call “the blessed sacrament”; or it may be you have sat always in the most plain of meeting-houses, and listened to the most orthodox of preachers, and you have been amongst the most religious of religious people; but now, at length, the Spirit of God has shown you that all these performances and attendances are worthless cobwebs which avail you nothing. You see now that-

“Not all the outward forms on earth,
Nor rites that God has given,
Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth,
Can raise a soul to heaven.”

But now the Spirit of God has told it you, and you feel its force: He is great at convincing of sin. When the Spirit of truth comes to deal with the religiousness of the flesh, He withers it in a moment. All religion which is not spiritual is worthless. All religion which is not the supernatural product of the Holy Ghost is a fiction. One breath from the Spirit of God withers all the beauty of our pride, and destroys the comeliness of our conceit; and then, when our own religion is dashed to shivers, the Lord Jesus comes in, saying, “Lo, I come.” …When you part with self you meet with Christ. When no shred of hope remains, then Jesus says, “Lo, I come.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Man’s First, and Last, and Best Hope

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

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel. – Genesis 3:15

That first news of the coming Champion came at a time when all man’s pleas were failures. Adam had thrown the blame on Eve-“The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Eve had also thrown the blame on the serpent; but the Lord God had silenced all such excuses, and driven them from their refuges. He had made them feel their guilt, and had pronounced upon them the inevitable sentence; and then it was that He spake of the “Seed of the woman.” Here was man’s first, and last, and best hope. So too, my friend, when you dare no longer plead your innocence, nor mention extenuations and excuses, then Jesus comes in. If conscience oppresses you so sorely that you cannot escape from it; if it be so that all you can say is “Guilty; willfully guilty,” then Jesus comes. If you neither blame your surroundings, nor your companions, nor the providence of God, nor our physical weakness, nor anything else, but just take all the blame to yourself because you cannot help doing so, then Jesus comes in. Verily you have sinned against God, against your parents, against your fellowmen, against light, against knowledge, against conscience, and against the Holy Ghost; no wonder, therefore, that you stand speechless, unable to offer any plea by way of self-justification. It is in that moment of shame and confusion that the Savior says, “Lo, I come.” For such as you are He is an Advocate. When a sinner cannot plead for himself, Christ pleads for him; when his excuses have come to an end, then will the Lord put away his sin through His own great sacrifice. Is not this a precious gospel word? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm