salvation

Our Redeemer’s Merits

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

I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. – Psalm 57:2

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

The God who made the promises has not left them as pictures, but has made them to fulfill them. It is God who is the actual worker of all that He declared in the covenant of grace should be wrought in and for His people.

Let us think of this as it pertains to our Redeemer’s merits… Meritoriously our Saviour-God has performed all things for us. Our sin has been all put away; He bore it all-every particle of it. The righteousness that wraps us is complete; He has woven it all from the top throughout. All that God’s infinite, unflinching justice can ask of us has been performed for us by our Surety and our Covenant Head. I need not say I have to fight; my warfare is accomplished. I need not think I have to wash away my sins; as a believer, my sin is pardoned. All things are performed for me. Don’t forget amidst your service for Christ what service Christ has rendered to you; do all things for Christ, but let the stimulating motive be that Christ has done all things for you. There is not even a little thing that is for you to do to complete the work of Christ. The temple He has builded wants not that you should find a single stone to make it perfect. The ransom He has paid does not wait until you add the last mite. It is all done. O soul, if Christ has completely redeemed thee and saved thee, rest thou on Him, and cry to Him, and if sin rebels within thee at this present moment, fly-though thy spirit be shut up as in the Cave Adullam- -fly to Him by faith-to Him who hath done all things for thee as thy Representative and Substitute. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3445.cfm

Use the Eye-Salve of Faith

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

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. – Matthew 6:34

It is always unwise to anticipate our troubles. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Of all self-torture, that of importing future trouble into present account is, perhaps, the most insane. Do you tell me you cannot help looking into the future. Well, then, look and peer into the distance as far as your weak vision can reach, but do not breathe upon the telescope with your anxious breath and fancy you see clouds. On the contrary, just wipe your eyes with the soft kerchief of some gracious word of promise, and hold your breath while you gaze through that transparent medium. Use the eye-salve of faith. Then, whatever you discern of the future, you will also descry this. He rules and He overrules: He will make all things work together for good; He will surely bring you through. Goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. He it is who will perform all things for you. Oh! strange infatuation! You see your weakness, you see the temptations that will assail you, and the troubles that threaten you, and you are afraid. Look away from them all. This is no business of yours. Leave it in His hands who will manage well, who will be sure to do the kindest and the best thing for you; be of good confidence and rest in peace.

I want, dear brethren, just to leave this impression in your mind, that in the great business of life, whatever it is, while we do not sit still and fold our hands for lack of work, yet God worketh in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3445.cfm

God is Always Near

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

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. – Isaiah 43:2

At this moment, thou hast many perplexities; thou mayest chafe thyself with anxiety, and make thyself foolish with shilly-shallying if thou dost sport with fancy, conjuring up bright dreams, and yielding to dark forebodings. There is many a knot we seek to untie, which were better cut with the sword of faith. We should end our difficulties by leaving them with Him who knows the end from the beginning. Up to this moment you have been rightly led: you have the same guide. To this hour, He who sent the cloudy pillar has led you rightly through the devious track-ways of the wilderness; follow still, with a sure confidence that all is well. If ye keep close to Him, He performeth all things for you. Take your guidance from His Word, and, waiting upon Him in prayer, you need not fear. Just now, mayhap, in addition to some exciting dilemma, you are surrounded with real trouble and distress. Will it not be well to cry unto God most high, who now, in the time of your strait and difficulty, will show Himself again to you a God all-sufficient to His people in their times of need. He is always near. I do not know that He has said, “When thou walkest through the green pastures, I will be with thee, and when thy way lies hard by the river of the water of life, where lilies bloom, I will strengthen thee.” I believe He will do so, but I do not remember such a promise; but “When thou goest through the rivers, I will be with thee,” is a well-known word of His. If ever He is present, it shall be in trial: if He can be absent, it will certainly not be when His servants most want His aid. Rest ye in Him then. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3445.cfm

Have You Faith?

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

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. – Acts 16:31

Dear hearer, have you faith? Dost thou believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all thy heart? If so, thou mayest hope to be saved. Ay, thou mayest conclude with absolute certainty that thou shalt never see perdition. Have you faith? …He that has faith has renounced his own righteousness. If thou puttest one atom of trust in thyself thou hast no faith; if thou dost place even a particle of reliance upon anything else but what Christ did, thou hast no faith. If thou dost trust in thy works, then thy works are anti-christ, and Christ and anti-christ can never go together. Christ will have all or nothing; He must be a whole Saviour, or none at all.

The true faith may be known by this, that it begets a great esteem, for the person of Christ. Dost thou love Christ? Couldst thou die for Him? Dost thou seek to serve Him? Dost thou love His people? Have you faith? Oh! answer it, Yes, or No. Leave off saying, “I do not know,” or “I do not care.” Ah! you will care, one day, when the earth is reeling, and the world is tossing to and fro; ye will care when God shall summon you to judgment, and when He shall condemn the faithless and the unbelieving. Oh! that ye were wise-that ye would care now, and if any of you feel your need of Christ, let me beg of you, for Christ’s sake, now to seek faith in Him who is exalted on high to give repentance and remission, and who, if He has given you repentance, will give you remission too. Oh sinners, who know your sins! “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and ye shall be saved.” Cast yourselves upon His love and blood, His doing and His dying, His miseries and His merits; and if you do this you shall never fall, but you shall be saved now, and saved in that great day when not to be saved will be horrible indeed…Lay hold on Him, touch the hem of His garment, and ye shall be healed. May God help you so to do, for Christ’s sake! Amen and Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0107.cfm

Our Vital Union to Christ

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

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ – Ephesians 1:3

If I come before God’s throne with my prayers I shall never get them answered unless I bring Christ with me. The Molossians of old, when they could not get a favour from their king, adopted a singular expedient; they took the king’s only son in their arms, and falling on their knees cried, “O king, for thy son’s sake, grant our request.” He smiled and said, “I deny nothing to those who plead my son’s name.” It is so with God. He will deny nothing to the man who comes, having Christ at his elbow; but if he comes alone he must be cast away. Union to Christ is the great point in salvation. Let me tell you a story to illustrate this: the stupendous falls of Niagara have been spoken of in every part of the world; but while they are marvellous to hear of, and wonderful as a spectacle, they have been very destructive to human life, when by accident any have been carried down the cataract. Some years ago, two men, a bargeman and a collier, were in a boat, and found themselves unable to manage it, it being carried so swiftly down the current that they must both inevitably be borne down and dashed to pieces. Persons on the shore saw them, but were unable to do much for their rescue. At last, however, one man was saved by floating a rope to him, which he grasped. The same instant that the rope came into his hand a log floated by the other man. The thoughtless and confused bargeman instead of seizing the rope laid hold on the log. It was a fatal mistake; they were both in imminent peril, but the one was drawn to shore because he had a connection with the people on the land, whilst the other, clinging to the log, was borne irresistibly along, and never heard of afterwards. Do you not see that here is a practical illustration? Faith is a connection with Christ. Christ is on the shore, so to speak, holding the rope of faith, and if we lay hold of it with the hand of our confidence, He pulls us to shore; but our good works having no connection with Christ, are drifted along down the gulf of fell despair. Grapple them as tightly as we may, even with hooks of steel, they cannot avail us in the least degree.  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0107.cfm

Faith is the Stooping Grace

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

Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility. – Proverbs 18:12

Faith is the stooping grace, and nothing can make a man stoop without faith. Now, unless man does stoop, his sacrifice cannot be accepted. The angels know this. When they praise God, they do it veiling their faces with their wings. The redeemed know it. When they praise God, they cast their crowns before his feet. Now, a man who has not faith proves that he cannot stoop; for he has not faith for this reason, because he is too proud to believe. He declares he will not yield his intellect, he will not become a child and believe meekly what God tells him to believe. He is too proud, and he cannot enter heaven, because the door of heaven is so low that no one can enter in by it unless they will bow their heads. There never was a man who could walk into salvation erect. We must go to Christ on our bended knees; for though He is a door big enough for the greatest sinner to come in, He is a door so low that men must stoop if they would be saved. Therefore it is that faith is necessary, because a want of faith is certain evidence of absence of humility.

Oh! if thou dost not love Christ thou dost not believe in Him; for to believe in Christ begets love. And yet more: he that has true faith will have true obedience. If a man says he has faith, and has no works, he lies; if any man declares that he believes on Christ, and yet does not lead a holy life, he makes a mistake…Faith is the father of holiness… ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0107.cfm

Recumbency on the Truth

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 2 Comments

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. – Proverbs 3:5

Recumbency on the truth was the word which the old preachers used. You will understand that word. Leaning on it; saying, “This is truth, I trust my salvation on it.” Now, true faith, in its very essence rests in this-a leaning upon Christ. It will not save me to know that Christ is a Saviour; but it will save me to trust Him to be my Saviour. I shall not be delivered from the wrath to come by believing that His atonement is sufficient, but I shall be saved by making that atonement my trust, my refuge, and my all. The pith, the essence of faith lies in this-a casting one-self on the promise. It is not the lifebuoy on board the ship that saves the man when he is drowning, nor is it his belief that it is an excellent and successful invention. No! He must have it around his loins, or his hand upon it, or else he will sink. To use an old and hackneyed illustration: suppose a fire in the upper room of a house and the people gathered in the street. A child is in the upper story: how is he to escape? He cannot leap down-that were to be dashed to pieces. A strong man comes beneath, and cries, “Drop into my arms.” It is a part of faith to know that the man is there; it is another part of faith to believe that the man is strong; but the essence of faith lies in the dropping down into the man’s arms. That is the proof of faith, and the real pith and essence of it. So, sinner, thou art to know that Christ died for sin; thou art also to understand that Christ is able to save, and thou art to believe that; but thou art not saved, unless in addition to that, thou puttest thy trust in Him to be thy Saviour, and to be thine for ever. As Hart says in his hymn, which really expresses the gospel-

“Venture on Him, venture wholly;
Let no other trust intrude;
None but Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0107.cfm