salvation

Brought From Darkness Into Light

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 4 Comments

…by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles… and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. – Matthew 4:15-16

Men who know not the truth, since they must have some faith, seek out many inventions; for, if they are not taught of God, they soon become taught of Satan, and apt scholars are they in his school. Galilee was noted for the heresies which abounded there. But what a mercy it is that God can save heretics. Those who have received false doctrine, and added darkness to darkness in so doing, can yet be brought into the glorious light of truth. Though they may have denied the Deity of Christ, though they may have doubted the inspiration of Scripture, though they may have fallen into many traps and pitfalls of false doctrine, yet the Divine Shepherd, when He seeks His lost sheep, can find them out and bring them home again.

In consequence of being in the darkness of ignorance and error, these people were wrapt in the gloom of discomfort and sorrow. Darkness is an expressive type of sorrow. The mind that knows not God, knows not the heart’s best rest. There is no solace for our griefs like the gospel of Jesus Christ, and those who are ignorant of it are tossed about upon a stormy sea, without an anchorage. Glory be to God; when sorrow has brought on a midnight, grace can transform it into noon. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm

Light for the Outcasts

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation 4 Comments

The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up… – Matthew 4:15-16.

Full of love to the place where He had been brought up, our Lord had gone to Nazareth, and in the Synagogue He had preached the gladdest tidings; but, alas, the greatest of prophets and the Lord of prophets, received no honor in His own country. “He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” Expelled from the city by violence, the patient One turned His footsteps another way, yet, even when justly angry, love guided His footsteps. He must go, for the Nazarenes had proved themselves unworthy, but whither shall He go? He will go to the outcasts, to that part of His country which was most neglected, to that region where the population was mixed and degenerate so as to be called, not Galilee of the Jews, but Galilee of the Gentiles, where, because of distance from Jerusalem, little was known of the worship of the temple, where error was rampant, where men’s minds were enveloped in darkness, and their hearts in the gloom of death-shade. The loss of Nazareth shall be the gain of Galilee. Even His judgment upon a place is overruled in mercy, and even thus today there are some in this house who have often had Jesus preached to them from their very childhood, but until this hour they have refused obedience to the gospel’s command. What if He should now turn away from them; I pray He may not have done so already. Yet, in turning away from them, He will deal with others in mercy. As the casting away of the Jews was the salvation of the Gentiles, so the leaving of these privileged ones shall open a door of mercy and hope to those who have not enjoyed the privilege aforetime. To you who are not familiar with the gospel sound, to you who count yourselves more unworthy than the rest of mankind, to you desponding and despairing ones who write bitter things against yourselves, to you is the gospel sent. As aforetime, the Lord preached to Zabulon and Nephthalim, and the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, even so is He this day proclaimed among you.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm

Look for the Out-of-the-Way Sinners

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

Then cometh He to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar…Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. – John 4:5, 10

Brothers and sisters, beloved, there are many of you who are constantly looking out for souls, and trying to bring them to Christ…if you have any choice as to those to whom you go, seek out the oppressed. You are to go, so far as you can, “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;” but if you may specially look for some more than others, seek out the sick, the sad, the weary, the poor, the broken-down ones, and especially such as have been put out of the synagogue. When our missionaries have gone among the Brahmins in India, they have had a few converts; but the most blessing has been given among the poor people who have no high caste of which they are proud. When the gospel was taken to them, they gladly received it. The gospel worker will be wise if, instead of shunning those whom even nominally religious people put away, he looks after them first. They are likely soil for the good seed of the kingdom to grow in and bring forth fruit. Our Lord Jesus Christ, at Sychar, did not go to some goodly matron, who was an ornament to her sex; but you know where He found the woman who became His disciple and missionary, and you know what kind of woman she was; and, to this day, He delights to go about, as Whitefield used to say, “sweeping up the devil’s castaways.” Those whom nobody else wants, and nobody else will have, our blessed Lord and Master delights to receive. Do you, therefore, look after those out-of-the-way sinners. I like that expression, those out-of-the-way sinners; because our Lord Jesus Christ is the High Priest “who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.” Out-of-the-way sinners are the sort He came to save; therefore, look out for them, you who would follow the example of the great Soul-Winner.  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2667.cfm

The Bank Notes of God’s Promises

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 7 Comments

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. – 2 Corinthians 1:20

Have you ever noticed, dear friends, how much we live upon the promises of our fellow-men?…The commonest form of a promise is a bank note; and it is worth while to observe how much a bank note is made after the model of God’s promises. How does the wording of this bank note run? It is headed, “Bank of England;” and it begins, “I promise.” You take this note readily enough instead of five golden sovereigns, because you read on it, “I promise to pay the bearer;” and God’s promise is payable to “the bearer.” Whoever has the promise in his possession, whoever has faith enough to lay hold of God’s promise, may read it in this way: “I promise to pay the bearer.” I remember when I first snatched at one of God’s precious promises; I could hardly hope that I had any right to it, for I felt myself so utterly unworthy, but I snatched it up, and ran with it to the Bank of Faith, and as soon as I presented it, I received its full value. God always honours His own promises; here is one: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Go to Him with that gracious message, and it shall be fulfilled to you whoever you are. The note says, “I promise to pay the bearer.”…What does it now say on the bank note “I promise to pay the bearer on demand.” That is how all God’s promises run: “on demand.” It is worthy of note that, in the olden time, when the Lord had made many promises to His people, He added, “I will yet for this be enquired of by thee, house of Israel, to do it for them; “as though the fulfillment of the promise was delayed until it was asked for. No doubt many of God’s great and precious promises are not realized by you and me because they are not presented to the Lord as we should take a note to the bank to get it cashed. We do not enquire of God as much as we ought. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2667.cfm

Faith Expressed Before Men

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

And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped Him. – John 9:38

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. – Romans 10:10

True faith always expresses itself to the Lord. This man, when he had believed in Jesus, said, “Lord, I believe.” True faith ought also to express itself to men, as Paul puts it, in writing to the Romans, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation;” or, as the Master Himself puts it, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Therefore, the confession before men ought not to be neglected in any case; yet I fear, and hope, that there are some pilgrims who steal into heaven, scarcely known by men to be Christians, at least, not avowed as such by open profession. I do not recommend that dodging behind the hedges and getting to heaven along back roads; that is a bad plan, but, still, I trust some have managed it, though with much trouble and loss to themselves; but, in every case, every one who has believed has made the confession of that faith to the Master Himself. He has said to Jesus, as this man did, “Lord, I believe,” even though he has added, with another man, “Help Thou mine unbelief.” He has said to Jesus, with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” There has been a personal acknowledgment, as we sometimes sing it:

“My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine.”

How sweetly doth faith, sometimes, come up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved, and owning to Him that she is His, and He is hers! She cannot help making this confession; she would be untrue to herself and to her Lord if she did not do so. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2667.cfm

Himself the Reigning God is Our Savior

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, prophecy, salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit 8 Comments

…for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. – Revelation 17:14

He in whom you are asked to believe for salvation is Himself God. Then, in infinite mercy, He came and took upon Himself our nature, and dwelt among men. He voluntarily came, being God, but He was also sent of God, appointed and authorized to be God’s Ambassador to man. He was, in addition to being sent of God, anointed of God, for the Spirit of God rested upon Him without measure, qualifying Him for His work…Then He died, and by that death He forever put away the sin of His people. He took upon Himself the sin which He had never committed; He was numbered with the transgressors, and He suffered as if men’s transgressions had been His own; He died, “the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” And God has accepted those sufferings as a propitiation for all who believe in Him; and now, this is the witness of God concerning Him, that He has raised Him from the dead, and taken Him up to His throne, and made Him to sit there, at His Father’s right hand, where, at this moment, He is making intercession for all who come unto God by Him. And, now, our prayers are accepted through Him; and the infinite blessings, which are His, He distributes among us; and He is shortly coming again, with sound of trumpet, and attended by myriads of saints and angels. As He ascended from Olivet, in like manner also will He descend to earth again. King of kings and Lord of lords shall He be in that day…He is God, He still lives, it is the living, reigning Christ whom we preach unto you. He lives in glory, and He also lives here by the presence of His Holy Spirit, who is with us, and who is to abide with us evermore; and it is upon Him as God incarnate, as Savior, crucified, risen, and gone into the glory, that you are asked to place your soul’s confidence. If you would learn this truth more fully, read the four Gospels, and the Epistles, and ask the Spirit, who inspired the writers of them, to explain and apply them to you. That is the way to obtain faith. True faith is based upon knowledge of Christ…Take care, dear friends, that you always remember that simple but important truth.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2667.cfm

Be Certain of Your Salvation

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

“…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” – 2 Timothy 1:12

I could never be content without unquestioning certainty as to my soul’s salvation. Do you think that is more than a man ought to wish for? Are any of you at ease while you are afraid that you have a mortal disease working within you? Oh, no! You want to know, from a qualified physician, the truth about your case. And if it were whispered in your ear, at this moment, that your house was being broken into or was on fire, would you sit still here, and not trouble yourself as to whether the report were true or not? Would you not want to go at once, and see for yourself. If you knew that you bought an estate, some time ago, but you have since heard that the title to it is a very uncertain one, in fact, that, in all probability, you will lose all you have paid for it, would you not say, “I ought to have taken care to be certain about the title, and I would not have bought the estate if I had not felt that the deeds relating to it were all right”. Well, then, if you desire certainty about your bodily health, and about the safety of your house, and about the validity of your title-deeds, can you afford to go without certainty as to your soul’s affairs? No, you cannot; therefore, rest not till you have it. If you have various questions about your spiritual condition, boldly face those questions, and answer them; but never let any questions about your eternal welfare be such that you dare not face them, and do not wish to search out the answers to them. Pry to the very bottom of them; and, better still, ask the Lord to search you, and know your heart, to try you, and know your thoughts, and to lead you in the way everlasting; and be not content till you can truthfully say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2667.cfm