salvation

To you, O Naked Sinner He Comes

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

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. – Genesis 3:7

When we find the first promise of our Lord’s coming, “in the volume of the Book,” we find that man’s covering was a failure. The guilty pair had gathered the leaves of the fig tree, and had made themselves aprons, for they knew that they were naked. This was the first fruit of that boasted tree of knowledge, and it is the principal one to this day. Their scant coverlet contented them for a little while; but when the voice of the Lord God was heard in the garden they confessed that their aprons were good for nothing; for Adam owned that he was afraid because he was naked, and that therefore he had hidden himself in the thick groves of the garden. It is easy to make a covering which pleases us for a season; but self-righteousness, presumption, pretended fidelity, and fancied natural excellence- all those things are like green fig-leaves, which shrivel up before long, lose their freshness, and are rather an exposure than a covering. It may be that my hearer has found his imaginary virtues failing him. It was when our first parents knew that they were naked that the Savior said, “Lo, I come.” My downcast hearer, if you are no longer in your own esteem as good as you used to be; if you can no longer hide the fact that you have broken God’s law, and deserve His wrath; if you no longer believe the devil’s lie that you shall suffer no penalty, but may even be the better for sin, then the Lord the Savior says to you, “Lo, I come.” To you, O naked sinner, shivering in your own shame, blushing scarlet with conviction- to you He comes. When you have nothing left of your own, He comes to be your robe of righteousness, wherein you may stand accepted with God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Believe It and Live

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

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. – Genesis 2:17

Then said I, Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

Man in the Garden of Eden had every advantage for obedience and life. He had a perfect nature, created without bias towards evil, and he was surrounded with every inducement to continue loyal to his Maker. He was placed under no burdensome law. The precept was simple and plain: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Only one tree was reserved: all the rest were given up to be freely enjoyed. In a very short time-some think it was on the first day, but that we do not know, our mother Eve ate of the fruit, and father Adam followed her, and thus human probation ended in total failure. They were weighed in the balances, and found wanting: “Adam being in honor continued not.” At that point we read in the volume of the Book that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. Then our Redeemer said, “Lo, I come.” Hearken to me, my friend: you also have had your probation, as you have thought it to be. You quitted your father’s roof with every hope, your mother judged you to be of a most amiable character, and your friends expected to see in you one whose life would honor the family. You thought so yourself. Your probation has reversed that hope: you have turned out far other then you should have been; and looking back upon the whole of your life to this moment, you ought to be ashamed. It has been a terrible breaking down for you, and for all who know you; and you are sitting in this place feeling, “Yes, it is so; the tests have proved me to be as a broken reed. I am under condemnation by reason of my transgressions against God.” How rejoiced I am to tell you that, at such a time when you are conscious that you are a dead failure, Jesus says, “Lo, I come!” If you had not been a failure you would not have wanted Him, and He never comes as a superfluity; but now in your complete break-down you must have Him or perish, and in infinite pity He cries, “Lo, I come.” Is not this good news for you? Believe it and live. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Oh, The Joy of Triumphant Love!

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

I delight to do Thy will, O my God, yea, Thy law is within my heart.. – Psalm 40:8

Our Lord is most thorough in all that He does. His work is never slovenly, nor in a half-hearted way. He does not even sit on the well and talk to a poor woman, but what His heart is there. He does not go into a fisherman’s hut, but what His heart is there, and He heals the sick one. He does not sit down to supper with His followers, but what His heart is there, and He reveals His love. I wish we were always at home when the Lord calls for us! Sometimes we are all abroad, and our heart is away from the service of our Father; but He loved the LORD with all His heart, and mind, and strength. For us He gave His whole being, rejoicing to redeem us. He was always intense. Whether He preached or practiced, Jesus was all there and always there. Hence His delight; for what a man does with his heart he delights to do. These two sentences are melodious of joy to my ear. “I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.”

The Bible says, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” What means the presence of the angels? Why, that the angels see the joy of Christ when sinners repent. Hear them say to one another, “Behold the Father’s face! How He rejoices! Gaze on the countenance of the Son! What a heaven of delight shines in those eyes of His! Jesus wept for these sinners, but now He rejoices over them. How resplendent are the nail-prints to-day, for the redeemed of the Lord’s death are believing and repenting! That blessed countenance which is always as a sun, shineth in the fullness of its strength, now that He sees of the travail of His soul.” He who suffered feels a joy unsearchable…Oh, the joy of triumphant love! The joy of the crucified, whose prepared body is the body of His glory as once it was the body of His humiliation! In that manhood He still rejoices, and delights to do the will of the Father. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2202.cfm

The Lord’s Delights

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

Then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. – Hebrews 10:9

Our Lord delighted to carry out all the purposes and desires of the Most High God. He so delighted in the will of God that He came to do it, and to bear it, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He also delighted in God. He took an intense delight in glorifying the Father. He came to reveal the Father, and make Him to be beloved of men. He did all things to please God. Moreover, He took a delight in us; and here, though the object of His love is less, the love itself is heightened by the conspicuous condescension. The Lord Jesus took a deep delight in His people, whose names were written on His heart, and graven on the palms of His hands. His heart was fixed on their redemption, and therefore He would present Himself as a sacrifice on their behalf. The people whom the Father gave Him from before the foundation of the world lay on His very soul; for them He had a baptism to be baptized with, and He was straitened till it was accomplished. He gave Himself no rest till He had left both joy and rest to ransom His own.

When our Lord was here, He was the most blessed of men. Do you start? Do you remind me that He was “a man of sorrows”? I grant you that none was more afflicted; but I still stand to it, that within Him dwelt a joy of the highest order. To Him it was joy to be in sorrow, and honor to be put to shame…You shall never go too far in your estimate of His unfathomable griefs; but going with you to the full in it all, I shall take liberty still to say that He had within Himself a fountain of joy, which enabled Him to endure the cross, and even to despise the shame. Blessed among men was He, even when He was made a curse for us! With delight He gave Himself for us, and made a cheerful surrender of Himself, that He might be the ransom for many. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2202.cfm

Our Lord’s Wondrous Love

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

I delight to do Thy will, O God. – Psalm 40:8

Note well, that He came in complete subserviency to His Father, God. “I delight to do”-what? “Thy will.” His own will was absorbed in the divine will. His pleasure it was to say, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” It was His meat and His drink to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work. Though He was Lord and God, He became a lowly servant for our sakes. Though high as the highest, He stooped low as the lowest. The King of kings was the servant of servants, that He might save His people. He took upon Him the form of a servant, and girded Himself, and stood obediently at His Father’s call.

He had a prospective delight as to His work. Before He came, He delighted in the thought of His incarnation. The Supreme Wisdom saith, “My delights were with the sons of men.” Happy in His Father’s courts, He yet looked forward to an access of happiness in becoming man. “Can that be?” saith one. Could the Son of God be happier than He was? As God, He was infinitely blessed; but He knew nothing by experience of the life of man, and into that sphere He desired to enter. To the Godhead there can be no enlargement, for it is infinite; but still there can be an addition; our Lord was to add the nature of man to that of God. He would live as man, suffer as man, and triumph as man, and yet remain God: and to this He looked forward with a strange delight, inexplicable except upon the knowledge of the great love He bore to us. He had given His heart so entirely to His dear Bride, whom He saw in the glass of predestination, that for her He would endure all things.

“Yea, saith the Lord, for 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.”

It was wondrous love. Our Lord’s love surpasses all language and even thought. I am talking prodigies and miracles at every word I utter. It was delightful to our Lord to come hither. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2202.cfm

In The Book Written by the Finger of God

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

In the volume of the book it is written of Me… – Psalm 40:7; Hebrews 10:7

There was a time before all time, when there was no day but the Ancient of Days, when all that existed was the Lord, who is all in all: then the sacred Three entered into covenant, in mutual agreement, for a sublime end. Man sinning, the Son of God shall be the surety. Christ shall bear the result of man’s offense; He shall vindicate the law of God, and make Jehovah’s name more glorious than ever it has been. The second person of the divine Unity was pledged to come, and take up the nature of men, and so become the firstborn among many brethren to lift up a fallen race, and to save a number that no man can number, elect of God the Father, and given to the Son to be His heritage, His portion, His bride. Then did the Well-beloved strike hands with the eternal God, and enter into covenant engagements on our behalf: “In the volume of the book it is written.” That sealed book, upon whose secrets no angel’s eye has looked, a book written by the finger of God long before He wrote the Book of the law upon tables of stone, that book of God may be spoken of in the Psalm, “And in Thy book all My members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Our Lord came to carry out all His suretyship engagements: His work is the exact fulfillment of His engagements recorded in the eternal covenant, “ordered in all things and sure.” He acts out every mysterious line and syllable, even to the full. Then He said, “A body hast Thou prepared Me. Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me.” It is ever a pleasing study to see our Lord, both in the written Word, and in the eternal covenant of grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2202.cfm

Lo, I Come

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

Then I said, “Behold, I have come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.” – Hebrews 10:7

“Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire. Then said I, Lo, I come.” Observe when He says this. It is in the time of failure. All the sacrifices had failed. The candle flickered, and was dying out, and then the great light arose, even the eternal light, and like a trumpet the words rung out, “Lo, I come. All this has been of no avail; now I come.” It is in the time of failure that Christ always does appear. The last of man is the first of God; and when we have come to the end of all our power and hope, then the eternal power and Godhead appears with “Lo, I come.”

When He appears, it is as the personal Lord. Lay the stress upon the pronoun, “Lo, I come.” The infinite Ego appears. “Lo, I come.” No mere man could talk thus, and be sane. No servant or prophet of God would ever say, “Lo, I come.” Saintly men talk not so. God’s prophets and apostles have a modest sense of their true position: they never magnify themselves, though they magnify their office. It is for God to say, “Lo, I come.” He who says it takes the body prepared for Him, and comes in His own proper personality as the I AM. “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” He comes forth from the ivory palaces to inhabit the tents of manhood. He takes upon Himself the body prepared for Him of the Lord God, and He stands forth in His matchless personality ready to do the will of God…”Lo, I come.” This is no dirge: I think I hear a silver trumpet ring out-“Lo, I come.” Here is a joyful alacrity and intense eagerness. The coming of the Savior was to Him a thing of exceeding willingness. “For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2202.cfm