salvation

“I Have Christ…”

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, the unbelieving life 3 Comments

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.  – Romans 8:9

At this present hour, if you are without Christ, you lack the very essence of good, by reason of which your choicest privileges are an empty boast, instead of a substantial boon. Without Christ all the ordinances and means of grace are worth nothing. Even this precious Book, that might be weighed with diamonds, and he that was wise would choose the Book, and leave the precious stones-even this sacred volume is of no benefit to you. You may have Bibles in your houses, as I trust you all have, but what is the Bible but a dead letter without Christ? Ah! I would you could all say what a poor woman once said. “I have Christ here,” as she put her hand on the Bible, “and I have Christ here,” as she put her hand on her heart, “and I have Christ there,” as she raised up her eyes towards heaven; but if you have not Christ in the heart, you will not find Christ in the Book, for He is discovered there in His sweetness, and His blessedness, and His excellence, only by those who know Him and love Him in their hearts. Do not get the idea that a certain quantity of Bible-reading, and particular times spent in repeating prayers, and regular attendance at a place of worship, and the systematic contribution of a guinea or so to the support of public worship and private charities will ensure the salvation of your souls. No, you must be born again. And that you cannot be; for it is not possible that you could have been born again if you are still living without Christ. To have Christ is the indispensable condition of entering heaven. If you have Him, though compassed about with a thousand infirmities, you shall yet see the brightness of the eternal glory; but if you have not Christ, alas! for all your toil, and the wearisome slavery of your religion, you can but weave a righteousness of your own, which shall disappoint your hope, and incur the displeasure of God.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3472.cfm

The Imminent Peril

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, the unbelieving life 8 Comments

He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – John 3:18

The imminent peril is to be without Christ Himself. Do you see, there, the Saviour in human form-God made flesh, dwelling among us? He loves His people, and came to earth to wipe out an iniquity which had stained them most vilely, and to work out a righteousness which should cover them most gloriously, but without Christ that living Saviour is nothing to you. Do you see Him led away as a sheep to the slaughter, fastened to the cruel wood bleeding, dying? Without Christ you are without the virtue of that great sacrifice; you are without the merit of that atoning blood. Do you see Him lying in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, asleep in death? That sleep is a burial of all the sins of His people, but without Christ your sins are not atoned for; your transgressions are yet unburied; they walk the earth; they shall go before you to judgment; they shall clamour for your condemnation; they shall drag you down without hope. Without Christ, remember, you have no share in His resurrection. Bursting the bonds of death, you, too, shall rise, but not to newness of life, nor yet to glory, for shame and everlasting contempt shall be your portion if you be without Christ… Oh! my dear hearers, I cannot tell you what unutterable abysses of wretchedness and misery are comprised here within the fulness of the meaning of these dreadful words-without Christ.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3472.cfm

The Universal Proclamation

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

That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. – John 3:15

Our message goes on to announce that whosoever in the wide world will come to Jesus Christ, and commit his cause to Him as Redeemer, Saviour, and Friend, shall forthwith be at peace with God, receive full pardon for all offences, and be welcomed as a favourite of the Most High. He shall know that for him Jesus Christ did die in his stead, and as surety did stand for him when He appeared before God… This proclamation, I say, is to be made universally… The same message, that God has accepted Christ as a substitute for every man that will believe in Christ, and that whosoever trusts Christ to save him is in that moment saved, will suffice for all. Yea, we would tell them that before the sinner does trust Christ he is reconciled unto God by His death, because the atonement which He offered had been accepted, and there was peace forestalled between God and that sinner.

What a message I have to present! What a proclamation I have to make! Nothing is necessary on your part. God expects nothing of you to merit His esteem, or to enhance the value of His gift. If repentance be indispensable, He is prepared to give it to you. If a tender heart be needed, He is ready to give you a heart of flesh. If you feel that you have a heart of stone, He has engaged to take it away. Does your guilt oppress you, He says, “I will sprinkle clean water, water of pure fountains, upon them, and they shall be cleansed from all their filthiness, and from all their uncleanness will I save them.” Know, all men, that there is no exception made…I have to proclaim an indemnity of such universal import that it is indiscriminate, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall never perish, but shall have everlasting life.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3497.cfm

The Penalty is Paid for Us

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 6 Comments

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. -2 Corinthians 5:22

Christ, the Son of God, has become man. Cheerfully and willingly He took upon Himself our nature; veiled the form of Deity in a humble garb of clay; was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a life of holiness, and died a death of sacrifice. Through this marvellous death of the Man, the God, Christ Jesus, God is at peace with His people. The peace is made already, for He is our peace. God is at peace with every man for whom Jesus died. Jesus Christ stood in the room, place, and stead of His chosen people. Christ was punished for their sins. Justice cannot punish twice for one offense. Christ, the substitute, being punished, the sinner cannot be amenable for his own offences. Those for whom Jesus died go free. The proclamation is that God is willing to be reconciled, that He is reconciled. It is an announcement, not that you may have peace merely, but that peace is made with God by Jesus Christ for you-full peace, without condition, not half-made, but wholly made; the penalty being completely paid to the last doit, and the sacrifice completely slaughtered till the last drop of blood had expiated the last offence… From condemnation he is, therefore, free; of salvation he is, therefore, sure.  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3497.cfm

Our Commission

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 14 Comments

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespass unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” – 2 Corinthians 5:19

Let us open the commission. It lies in a nutshell. “Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but had rather that he should turn unto Me and live.” “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as wool, though they be red like crimson they shall be whiter than snow. ” Our commission begins with the announcement that God is love, that He is full of pity and compassion, that He is desirous to receive His creature back, that He willeth to forgive, and that He electeth, if it be consistent with the high attribute of His justice, to accept even the most rebellious, and to put them amongst His children. Our commission goes on to disclose the manner, as well as the motive, of mercy. Inasmuch as God is love, He, in order to remove all difficulties in the way of pardoning rebels, has been pleased to give His only begotten Son that He might stand in the room, place, and stead of those whom God has chosen; their sins He engaged to take; to carry their sorrows, and to make an atonement on their behalf. Thus the justice of God should be satisfied, and His love flow over to the human race. We declare, therefore, that God has given Christ, and He has made it a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that He came into the world to save sinners, even the very chief.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3497.cfm

But Until Christ Comes…

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 6 Comments

Even when we were dead in sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) – Ephesians 2:5

Without Christ your religion is dead, corrupt, a stench, a nuisance before God-a thing of abhorrence, for where there is no Christ there is no life in any devotion, nothing in it for God to see that can possibly please Him. And this, mark you, is a true description, not of some, but of all who are without Christ. You moral people without Christ, you are lost as much as the immoral. You rich and respectable people, without Christ, you will be as surely damned as the prostitute that walks the streets at midnight. Without Christ, though you should heap up your charitable donations, endow your almshouses and hospitals, yea, though you should give your bodies to be burned, no merit would be imputed to you. All these things would profit you nothing. Without Christ, e’en if you might be raised on the wings of flaming zeal, or pursue your eager course with the enthusiasm of a martyr, you shall yet prove to be but the slave of your own passion, and the victim of your own folly. Unsanctified and unblest, you must, then, be shut out of heaven, and banished from the presence of God. Without Christ, you are destitute of every benefit which He, and He alone, can bestow.

It is all lost! lost! lost! without Christ, utterly lost, and until Christ comes not a single beam of hope can make glad that anxious eye.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3472.cfm

An Unconditional Peace

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

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:..Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; – Ephesians 2:8, 15

Most acceptable is a messenger of peace if the people know that he brings no hard terms. When a certain king sent to the inhabitants of a town that he would make peace with them, provided he put out their right eyes and cut off their right hands, I am sure the tidings must have caused the utmost consternation, and the ambassador could not be very popular. But there are no hard terms in the gospel. In fact, there are no terms, no conditions at all. It is an unconditional peace which God makes with men. It is a gospel which asks nothing of men, but gives them everything. The Lord saith, “My oxen and My fatlings are killed; all things are ready, come ye to the supper.” There is nothing for man to get ready; all things are prepared. The terms-if I must use a word I do not like-are simple and easy. “Believe, and live.” With what joy should a rebellious sinner hear the voice of the ambassador who brings no hard conditions from God.

No temporary peace is proposed that may presently be broken, but a peace that shall stand fast for ever and ever. No temporary armistice, no brief interlude between the deeds of battle do we herald. Peace; eternal, unbroken peace; peace that shall endure in life and outlive death; peace which shall endure throughout eternity, we testify and make known to you.

This peace is proclaimed to all men. It is proclaimed without exception. “Whosoever believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.” None are excluded hence but those who do themselves exclude. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3497.cfm