salvation

A Better Paradise

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

But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. – Mark 10:30

Sin has brought us very low, but Christ has lifted us higher than we stood before sin cast us down. Sin took away from man his love to God, but Christ has given us an intenser love to God than Adam ever had, for we love God because He has first loved us, and has given His Son to die for us, and we have, in His greater grace, a good reason for yielding to Him a greater love. Sin took away obedience from man, but now saints obey to a yet higher degree than they could have done before; for I suppose it would not been possible for unfallen man to suffer, but now we are capable of suffering for Christ; and many martyrs have gone sighing to death for the truth, because, while sin made them capable of suffering, Christ’s grace has made them capable of obedience to Him in the suffering, and so of doing more to prove their allegiance to God than would have been possible if they had never fallen. Sin, dear brethren and sisters in Christ, has shut us out of Eden; yet let us not weep, for Christ has prepared a better paradise for us in heaven; Sin has deprived us of the river that rippled o’er sands of gold, and of the green glades of that blessed garden into which suffering could never have come unless sin had first entered, but God has provided for us “a pure river of water of life,” and a lovelier garden than Eden ever was; and there we shall for ever dwell through the abounding grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which has abounded even over our abounding sin. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

They Loved Much

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

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  – Romans 7:24, 25

It is very wonderful, but it is certainly true, that there are many persons in heaven in whom sin once abounded. In the judgment of their fellow-men, some of them were worse sinners than others. There was Saul of Tarsus, there was the dying thief, there was the woman in the city who was a sinner, a sinner in a very open and terrible sense. These, and many more of whom we read in the Scriptures, were all great sinners, and it was a great wonder of grace, in every instance, that they should be forgiven; but did they make poor Christians when they were converted? Quite the reverse; they loved much because they had been forgiven much. Amongst the best servants of God are many of those who were once the best servants of the devil. Sin abounded in them, but grace much more abounded when it took possession of their hearts and lives. They were long led captive by the devil at his will, but they never were such servants to Satan as they afterwards became to the living and true God. They threw all the fervor of their intense natures into the service of their Savior, and so rose superior to some of their fellow-disciples who did not so fully realize how much they owed to their Lord.

The same truth comes out if we think of what sin has done for us. O brethren, sin has infected the nature of man with a foul leprosy, a deadly disease, but Jesus has cured the disease, and given us a life of a holier kind than we ever knew before. Sin has robbed us; but Christ has restored to us more than sin ever took away from us. Sin has stripped us; but Christ has clothed us in a better robe than our natural righteousness could ever have been. Well do we sing of Jesus,-

“In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

 

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 Forces of Sin and Grace

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

“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”-Romans 5:20

There are two very powerful forces in the world, which have been here ever since the time when Eve partook of the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden. Those two forces are sin and grace. A very great power is sin, a power dark, mysterious, baleful, but full of force. The sorrows of mankind, whence came they but from sin? We should have known no war, nor pestilence, nor famine, nor would aught of sickness or sorrow ever have smitten the human race had not sin sown its evil seed in this earth. Sin is the Pandora’s box from which all evil has come to mankind.

The only counter force against sin is grace… Grace is the free favor of God, the undeserved bounty of the ever-gracious Creator against whom we have offended, the generous pardon, the infinite, spontaneous lovingkindness of the God who has been provoked and angered by our sin, but who, delighting in mercy, and grieving to smite the creatures whom He has made, is ever ready to pass by transgression, iniquity, and sin, and to save His people from all the evil consequences of their guilt. Here, my brethren and sisters in Christ, is a force that is fully equal to the requirements of the duel with sin; for this grace is divine grace, and hence it is omnipotent, immortal, and immutable… The gracious purpose of God’s free favor to an undeserving man is more than a match for that man’s sin, for it brings to bear, upon his sin, the blood of the incarnate Son of God, and the majestic and mysterious fire of the eternal Spirit, who burns up evil and utterly consumes it. With God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost united against sin, the everlasting purposes of grace are bound to be accomplished, sin must be overcome. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

“Come, Poor Soul, Follow Me!”

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

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me. – John 1:43

“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip.” O my blessed Lord, how He will go forth to find a soul! A journey is never too long for Him, and He never wastes a day. “The day following Jesus would go forth, and findeth Philip.” Oh, may my Lord delight to come forth, and find some of you! I pray that He may find some of you. Perhaps you do not know how it was that you came here…O my Master, find some more of Thy jewels! Lord Jesus, come and find Philip, and find Mary, and then let Philip and Mary declare that they have found Thee!

When our dear Master goes forth to find a soul, it is very effectual work. He said to Philip, “Follow Me.” “Follow Me,” “FOLLOW ME.” “Come, poor soul, you do not know the way! ‘Follow Me.’ You want some one to go before you, to be your leader. ‘Follow Me.’ You want some one to be your shelter, your companion, your all. ‘Follow Me.'” That is what you have to do, good woman. You have been worrying about what you have heard from different preachers; Christ says to you, “Follow Me.” That is what you have to do, young man. You have been reading those rubbishing modern thought books till you do not know whether you are on your head or on your heels. Burn them. Jesus says, “Follow Me.” I know that some of you have been distracted with all sorts of silly talk; let that go to the dogs. Jesus says, “Follow Me.” The crucified Saviour says, “Follow Me.” Take Him for your atonement. The risen Saviour says, “Follow Me.” Take Him for your life. The Saviour on the throne says, “Follow Me.” Take Him for your joy. The Saviour coming in glory hereafter says, “Follow Me.” Take Him to be your hope. “Follow Me,” …Jesus said to Philip, “Follow Me,” and Philip followed Him directly; and he not only followed Christ himself, but he began immediately to try to get others to follow Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2375.cfm

All This is the Work of God

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

“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip.” – John 1:43

I was sitting down, one day, gratefully reflecting on what God had done for me. I knew that my sins were pardoned, I knew that I was accepted in Christ Jesus, and I knew that I was renewed in heart, and in one moment the revelation came to me: “All this is the work of God.” The instant I saw that truth, I said to myself, “Yes, that is the fact, and God be glorified for it! But why has this great work been wrought in me?” I knew that there was no merit in me before the Lord had dealt in mercy with my soul, so I said to myself, “This is the effect of sovereign distinguishing grace.” Then I understood in a moment how it is that God begins with us, and that it is God’s will and God’s eternal purpose, which, after all, lie deeper down than our will or our purpose; and God’s will and God’s eternal purpose must have the glory. What a revelation it was to me! I saw the doctrines of grace immediately; and I think that anybody who has been brought to find the Saviour, and who prayerfully studies the reasons for his salvation, can see the same truth that the Lord revealed to me. Because first of all, you began to be thoughtful, did you not? Who made you thoughtful? You would never have found the Savour if you had not become thoughtful instead of careless and indifferent. Who made you think of divine things? What influence was it which wrought upon you, and caused you to feel that you must think about eternity, and heaven, and hell? Then you had a sense of your need and of your sinfulness. There was a time when you had no such sense; then, who gave it to you? Where do you think that repentance, that sorrow for sin, that desire after Christ, came from? Did all that grow in your own fallen human nature? Ah, believe me, that dunghill never brought forth such fair flowers as these! No, it was Christ who sowed the good seed in your soul; it was He who made you feel your need of Him. Surely it was God the Holy Ghost going forth, in the name of Jesus Christ, and dealing with you in mercy. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2375.cfm