salvation

“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

Will You Have Christ?

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

…and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. – John 6:37

One of the things that every man, who would find the Saviour, must do, is to make sure of his right to come and take the Saviour. The question that puzzles many is, “May I have the Saviour?” My dear friends, every sinner in the world is permitted to come and trust the Saviour, if he wills to do so. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “But,” asks some troubled soul, “will Christ have me?” That is not the question; the question is, “Will you have Christ?” He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

Do you ask, “What am I to do that I may find the Saviour?” Well, what you have to do is practically this, accept Him. If you were sick, and the doctor stood before you, with the medicine ready prepared, you would not say, “What am I to do with this medicine, sir? Am I to rub my hand on the outside of the bottle?” You know very well that there are certain directions as to how much is to be taken, and how often. What you have to do with the medicine is to take it. “But I cannot make that medicine work for my restoration.” Who said you could? All you have to do is to take it. It is just this that you have to do with Christ; take Him, accept Him, receive Him. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” That is it, you see, receive Him, believe on His name… He will change you, He will renew you, He will make you a new creature in Himself. What you have to do is to receive Him, and to believe on His name. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Found in the Pages of Scripture

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

Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”- John 1:45

He who reads the Bible with the view of finding Christ, will not be long before some passage of Scripture will seem to leap up, to attract his attention, as though it were set on fire, and then it will speak to him of Jesus, whispering to him of the great sacrifice on Calvary, and speaking to his heart of divine love and mercy. Philip was a searcher after Christ in the place where Christ loves to be, in the pages of Scripture, and you must be the same if you desire to find Jesus.

But then Philip also gave himself to prayer. We are not told so, but we feel sure of it. He asked the Lord to reveal Christ to him, to guide him to where the Christ would be, to let him know the Christ. Oh, if you want to be saved, be much in prayer! I do not mean merely saying prayers; what is the good of that? I do not mean simply saying fine words of your own, merely for the sake of uttering them. Prayer is communing with God; it is asking the Lord for what you really feel that you need. What wagon-loads of sham prayers are shot down at God’s door, as if they were so much rubbish thrown away! Let it not be so with your prayers; but speak to the Lord out of your very soul when you come to the throne of grace. With the open Bible before you to guide your understanding, kneel down, and say, “O God, graciously reveal Christ to me by thy Holy Spirit; bring me to know Him, bring me this day to find Him as my own Saviour!” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

When Christ Comes to Our Soul

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

“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”- John 1:43-45

“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” That is Philip’s description of it: “We have found Jesus.” It was a true description, but it was not all the truth; we will notice the Holy Spirit’s description of it: “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip.” Philip’s account of the incident is that he found Christ; but the Holy Spirit’s record of it is that Christ found Philip. They are both true, however; although the latter is the fuller.

The day in which a man comes to Christ is also a wonderful day in its effect upon all his future. It is as when the helm of a ship is put right about; the man now sails in a totally different direction. His future will never be what his past was. There may be faults; there may be infirmities and shortcomings; but there will never be the old love of sin any more. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” This is God’s own promise to us, given through His servant Paul. When Christ comes to our soul, He so breaks the neck of sin, that though it lives a struggling, dying life, and often makes a deal of howling in the heart, yet it is doomed to die. The cross of Christ has broken its back, and broken its neck, too, and die it must. Henceforth the man is bound for holiness, and bound for heaven.

“Tell to sinners round,
What a dear Saviour I have found.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

The Grandest Event in History

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

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. – Acts 4:12

The day in which a man comes to Christ, that very day his transgressions and iniquities are blotted out, even as the thick clouds are driven from the sky when God’s strong wind chases them away. Is not that a grand day in which our sins are cast into the depths of the sea so that henceforth it can be said of them, “They may be sought for, but they shall not be found; yea, they shall not be, saith the Lord”? I say that the day in which a soul comes into contact with Christ is the greatest day of its history, because all the past is changed by it; and as for the present, what a different life does a man begin to live on the day in which he finds the Lord! He commences to live in the light instead of being dead in the darkness; he begins to enjoy the privileges of liberty, instead of suffering the horrors of slavery; he is started on the way to heaven, instead of continuing on the road to hell. He is such a new creature that he cannot tell how changed he is. One said to me, “Sir, the change in me is of this kind; either the whole world is altered, or else I am.” So is it when we are brought to know Christ; it is a real, total, radical change. With many, it is a most joyous alteration; they feel like the man who had been lame, and who, when Peter spoke to him in the name of Jesus, and lifted him up, so that his feet and ankle bones received strength, was not satisfied with walking, for we read, “He leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” He was walking, and leaping, and praising God; do you wonder at it? If you had lost the use of your legs for a while, you would feel like leaping and praising God when you had them all right again; and thus is it with a soul when it first finds the Saviour. Oh! happy, happy day, when the miraculous hand of Christ takes away the infirmities of the soul, and makes the lame man to leap as a hart, and causes the tongue of the dumb to sing!~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

The Gathering of Christ’s Saints

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

And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Revelation 14:15

There was first a harvest, and then a vintage. The harvest is the righteous; the vintage is the wicked. When the wicked are gathered, an angel gathers them; but Christ will not trust an angel to reap the righteous. “He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle. “O my soul, when thou comest to die, Christ will Himself come after thee; when thou art to be cut down He that sits upon the throne will cut thee down with a very sharp sickle, in order that He may do it as easily as possible. He will be the Reaper Himself; no reaper will be allowed to gather Christ’s saints in, but Christ the King of saints. Oh, will it not be a joyful harvest when all the chosen race, every one of them, shall be gathered in? There is a little shrivelled grain of wheat, there, that has been growing somewhere on the headland, and that will be there. There are a great many who have been hanging down their heads, heavy with grain, and they will be there too. They will all be gathered in.

“His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of His sheep;
All that His heavenly Father gave
His hands securely keep.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2896.cfm